


the wake of your life

by MaddieContrary



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alpha Beverly Katz, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Alpha, M/M, Multi, No mpreg, Omega Will Graham, Omegas with Multiple Partners, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, s1 canon divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:28:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 37,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29428824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieContrary/pseuds/MaddieContrary
Summary: Will had gone through his life for the past few decades believing that he would never need to find an alpha. He was perfectly happy being alone with his pack in Wolf Trap, thank you very much. Of course, life doesn't always go as planned, so he ended up eating his own words when he eventually found himself with not just one, but multiple alpha partners in his life.---S1 canon divergence with an extra A/B/O twist where omegas can take multiple partners should they want to.
Relationships: Will Graham/Beverly Katz, Will Graham/Duncan Vizla | Black Kaiser, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Nigel (Charlie Countryman)
Comments: 125
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [XxEnchainesChatonxX](https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxEnchainesChatonxX/gifts).



> Yes, hello, I'm back at my bullshit because I couldn't quite resist this delicious prompt from xEnchainesChatonx from the ACOC server: _Will has multiple alphas as mates including Nigel, Hannibal, Duncan, and Bev. Little bit of alpha harem where they are all ok with each other as long as they have Will._
> 
> Honestly, who could resist such a delicious prompt (and it looks like I can't say no to polyamory for some weird reason...), so enjoy! And not gonna lie, I started this whole thing because I really just dig the idea of alpha!Bev and omega!Will, but rest assured we are going to go down that polyamory wheel.
> 
> Title comes from Mew's "Wake of Your Life" because I just like the vibes of the song + it fits lol

When Will first met Beverly Katz, he greeted her with a derisive snort, knowing why Jack Crawford had brought another alpha into his classroom once the students had dispersed.

It was the second time Jack came to ambush him to recruit Will as the BAU’s consultant. Having met the pushy alpha a few years before this, Will knew what he could expect from the brash man. He also knew exactly why Jack had brought another alpha with him. Will snarled in distaste as he shoved his laptop and documents inside his satchel, letting his displeasure show.

“Will,” Jack greeted him, stopping a few steps away from Will. Giving Will space, or a mockery of it. “I’m Jack Crawford, head of the Behavioral Analysis—”

“Yes, I know who you are, Jack,” Will sniffed, snapping his satchel shut and frowning at Jack’s tie. “We argued over your naming of the Evil Minds Research Museum.”

Jack chuckled in a self-deprecating manner, trying to appease the irate omega. “Ah, you remember that, do you?”

Will rolled his eyes and crossed his arms against his chest. Warding off the two alphas. “It’s a little hammy, Jack.”

Jack gave him a quick smile, there and gone in a second. “Well. I suppose now that that’s out of the way, I should cut to the chase. What have you heard of the Garrote Killer case?”

Will stiffened at the mention, his eyes narrowing. “No.”

Jack’s brow furrowed. “No, you haven’t heard of it…?”

“No,” Will snapped, “I’m not going to be involved in the case.”

Jack’s frown became more pronounced. “Will, people are dying out there, and the longer you dally on this—”

“The longer _you_ dally on it,” Will corrected him. "I'm not the head of the BAU, Jack, you are." His eyes shifted to the other alpha, who was looking at him with a mix of amusement and horror. Possibly she hadn’t seen anyone talk back to Jack Crawford like this, much less an omega like him. Ignoring her, he shifted his eyes back to Jack.

Jack was frowning at him as though he’d grown two heads in the last few seconds. Unused to an omega talking back to him, perhaps. “We need your help. I’ve heard about your… empathy and the way it’s helped you delve into the mind of killers.”

Will sighed. Of course. “I can empathize with anyone, it doesn’t have to be killers. But I’m still saying no.”

“There are lives at stake here, Will,” Jack bit out, his tone colored with disbelief. “Six people dead, and there might as well be a seventh one with the way you’re refusing to cooperate.”

Will sneered. “Oh, so if an omega says no, it’s just assumed that the ‘no’ doesn’t count for anything? You gonna accuse me of obstructing justice next?”

It looked as if Jack was ready to explode at the provocation (and well, Will could admit that it was a provocation) if it wasn’t for the other alpha’s hand settling down on Jack’s shoulder. Placating. Will frowned at the sight. So it looked as if the BAU has some capable and discerning alpha on their team, after all. He would’ve thought that most of the alphas on Jack’s team would be as brute and direct as Jack was.

Jack was visibly trying to calm himself, shutting his eyes for three seconds before he fixed his stare on Will again. “Look,” he said in a forced calm tone, “I’m trying to save lives here, and you’re one of our best hopes for it at the moment. We’ve had all of our best profilers working on the case, but none of them could produce anything substantial in the past few months. I’d appreciate it if you could consider lending your expertise.”

Will’s jaw worked at that, trying to think of any excuse for why he refused to help. He sighed and let his shoulders sag. “This… this empathy thing you’ve heard of. It’s taxing on me, alright? It’s not good for me in the long run.”

The admission cost him a little in terms of his pride; he hated letting others — especially alphas — know that he had this one weakness. It was just another point alphas would use against omegas. _“Ah,”_ the alphas would say, _“omegas are such delicate creatures, aren’t they?”_

“Well,” Jack said, letting out a sigh of his own. “I know the toll this kind of work can take on you, especially considering your dynamics.”

Will grimaced. Well, at least Jack was direct about it. No prevaricating over the facts, that was for sure.

“But,” Jack rushed in, seeing Will’s unhappy expression, “that’s why I brought Beverly.”

Will’s gaze flitted from Jack to Beverly and back to Jack again. He frowned. “So she’s here to be my alpha handler, in the absence of an alpha partner?”

Jack’s lips pursed in displeasure. “You know that’s the rule. I’m sorry, I don’t like to do this either, but rules are rules.”

Will shook his head. Fucking archaic rules. “Fine. Just... bring me up to speed, would you?”

Jack’s expression cleared, the alpha smiling for the first time since he came in. “Thank you, Will.”

The three of them made their way to Jack’s office after that, Jack leading the way while Will and Beverly followed him several paces apart.

“So,” Beverly said, glancing towards Will. “Will Graham, right?”

Will barely glanced at her, though he nodded quickly. “Yeah.”

“Beverly Katz,” she said, offering a hand for a handshake.

Will took it warily, still avoiding Beverly’s eyes. He could feel her curious gaze on him, though she was tactful enough not to question him in the middle of the hallway. He wasn’t an idiot; the peace would only last until they get to Jack’s office, so he preserved his strength until then. Knowing how abrasive alphas like Jack could be, he would definitely need it.

Once inside, Jack gestured to the seats at his desk, folding himself into the chair across from them.

Will took in the surroundings of Jack’s office, more out of habit than out of interest. The office was sparsely decorated, and the furniture and props littered around the room were utilitarian, everything in its correct place and order. Everything had its uses, including him and Beverly, he suspected.

The only indication of any personal belongings was a framed picture on Jack’s desk, which sat facing the alpha innocuously. If Will had to guess, it would be a picture of Jack’s wife and/or family.

“So,” Jack began, settling his arms on his desk and leaning forward. His gaze bore into Will, intense in its scrutiny. “What have you heard of the Garrote Killer?”

Will sighed and took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. He recounted what he knew in a dull voice, knowing that Jack and Beverly were watching him. Most of the facts he’d learned came from TattleCrime.com. He typically avoided giving more hit counts to such websites, but this time around his morbid curiosity had gotten the best of him. TattleCrime offered more photos than most, which was why he’d patronized the website at least once in the last few weeks.

Once Will had finished, Jack appraised him momentarily. “Well, looks like you’ve got most of the details,” Jack said wryly. “A reader of TattleCrime?”

Will snorted. “If you didn’t want people knowing all the details, you should probably work harder to contain the crime scenes so that Freddie Lounds doesn’t find her way inside.”

There was a burst of soft laughter from Beverly then, which was quickly converted into an unconvincing cough. Will glanced at her, surprised to see a small smirk on her face when she caught his gaze. He returned the smile minutely and turned back towards Jack, who didn’t look pleased at Will’s comeback or Beverly’s snort of laughter.

“Yes, well, we’ve tried everything with her,” Jack grumbled. “She’s a slippery sort.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Well, enough about Lounds and more about this killer. From what you know, what can you tell me about them?”

Will shook his head, sighing. “That’s not how this works, Jack. I’m not a clairvoyant. You think I can just pull some facts out of some magic hat just because I glimpsed a few pictures? I need all the facts and evidence to go beyond that. If you’ve got any bodies at the morgues, then even better.”

Jack frowned and exchanged a meaningful glance with Beverly at the request. “Will, I can give you the evidence that we have, but are you sure it’s… wise to look at the actual bodies?"

Oh, Jack was clever. Phrasing his words in a way to show his concern at Will’s “fragile” dynamics, to show his consideration of Will’s empathetic abilities. But beyond that concern, Will could see that Jack wanted nothing more than to pull Will into this. As long as Will showed him he could be trusted to deliver the results he needed to close the case, that is.

Will rolled his eyes. “You scared I’m going to fall apart at the sight of blood or something?”

“You have to understand,” Jack replied, clearly trying to appease but landing on annoyed instead, “the situation I’m in. Of course, I’d rather not have an omega exposed to such things, but we are quite desperate at the moment with the situation escalating after the last vic. I have the Director’s clearance to bring you in—”

“Well, give me the papers to sign and we can start then,” Will said, shrugging. “It sure looks like you have everything taken care of to make sure that you _can_ bring me in. That’s why you brought another alpha here, isn’t it?” He gestured towards Beverly. “To make sure I don’t faint or fall into some kind of fit when you bring me to a crime scene?”

Instead of bristling at the deduction, Beverly looked mildly amused instead. A corner of her lips upturned into a smile, head tilted in his direction, and eyes sparkling with something like mischief.

Jack, however, was boisterous in his disdain. “Look, we’re not here to talk about anyone’s dynamics, I’m just trying to get my job done, dammit—”

Will put up his hands in surrender, a headache already blooming at the thought of what this could mean. He was ill-equipped to handle an angered alpha at the moment, and he’d rather get this over with. Jack would just bulldoze everything anyway until he'd gotten what he wanted. “Fine, whatever. Just… send me the papers for consulting or whatever it is you have for me later at my office if that’s alright with you? I’d rather not start this off on the wrong foot.”

Jack deflated, though he still looked annoyed at Will’s hedging. “Fine,” he bit out, leaning mulishly in his seat. “HR will contact you with the papers tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, if you have any questions regarding the case, you can ask Beverly. She’s one of the BAU’s forensics in charge of it, and I’m sure she has all the files if you need them.”

Jack’s voice was dripping with barely concealed sarcasm, though he was trying hard to keep it professional. Will supposed he deserved that somewhat since he did kind of poke at the sleeping bear. So instead of answering, he merely nodded before excusing himself from Jack’s office.

He wasn’t surprised to hear a set of footsteps behind him following his exit, and he gave an inaudible sigh, wondering just what Beverly Katz would want with him.

“Hey, so you were the one who wrote that paper on standard monograph on time of death by insect activity, right?” she called out to him, keeping her footsteps even as she shadowed him.

Will rolled his shoulders in an uncaring shrug. “I did. Why are you following me?”

Beverly ran a few steps to keep up with his stride, smiling when they fell into step. “Just wanted to let you know I thought the paper was good. Although I have a few questions about how you came about your data on—”

“That’s great, but students usually come to me after class for questions,” Will interrupted her, “but you’re not exactly my student, so…”

“No. I’m your colleague now I guess,” Beverly mused. She seemed unbothered by Will’s reticent mood, keeping a small distance between them as they walked side-by-side towards his destination.

Will huffed when they finally reached his office along the corridor. He unlocked the door and went inside, raising his eyebrows as a grudging invitation to Beverly.

She took the hint with a wide smile, following him inside and looking around before dropping into a seat across from Will. Her head swiveled around, taking in his office, judging it by the lack of memorabilia and personal touches. Will knew his office lacked the sort of comfort that an omega typically preferred. This was his office, however, not somewhere he nested. He couldn't care less what people think of it.

Will rubbed his eyes again, putting his glasses back on and peering at Beverly. “So how did you get stuck in the unenviable position as an omega babysitter?”

Beverly chortled, leaning back in her seat. “Jack has his hands full with the case, plus he can’t be in a subjective role to vouch for you, since he’s the BAU head. Conflict of interest and all. So”—she gestured to herself with a grin—“here I am. Being the only other alpha on the BAU team had its perks, I guess. Though I won’t really call this a perk, would you?”

“I wouldn’t know,” he bit back as he took out his laptop from his satchel. “I’m just an omega.”

“You don’t believe that for a second,” Beverly challenged, her expression turning serious for a moment. “Honestly, I was holding my breath when you chewed Jack out — _both_ times — wondering what Jack would do. Turns out Jack was maybe sort of impressed that you refused to be cowed by him.”

Will snorted and booted his laptop back up. “So what? I passed some sort of alpha test?”

“Eh, it’s less than a test than it is a… I don’t even know, assessment?” She tilted her head, her mouth pursed. “I don’t think he expected you to be the way you are. You may have re-shifted his biases and prejudice against omegas in the field.”

“Good for him,” Will drawled, taking care to make his derision obvious.

Beverly laughed. “See, this is why I like you. You take no shit from anyone, do you?”

Will smiled reluctantly at that. “It’s a habit born of a hard-learned lesson.”

“Well, whatever it is, I think you’ll fit in well with the BAU.”

“Really?” Will smirked. “You’re so sure I wouldn’t burst out crying while I’m on your watch.”

Beverly rolled her eyes. “Look, I know for a fact that you don’t believe that whole dynamics stereotype bullshit. Neither do I. So you can stop thinking that I would treat you like some fragile china or whatever because I won’t. And we both know how stereotypes can damage both ways, right?”

Will turned to look at her fully, then. Assessing.

Unlike most alphas he’d met, Beverly wasn’t as overbearing as most. While Jack was the classic example of an overbearing alpha, Beverly was… It was harder to classify her. If they were in high school, he thought Beverly would be classified as a “jock” or as “one of the guys” based on what he could see on the surface.

Beyond that, what he could glean from her was this: She’s a woman who happened to be an alpha, razor-sharp with her wit and her smart mouth though she knew when to keep it shut too, uncaring for any decorum or tact but still pretty respectful (or at least aware) of boundaries, someone who played some kind of instrument judging by the callouses and indentations on her fingers (a violin, maybe), and a discerning judge of character who would reserve judgment until she was satisfied with what she’d learned…

The list went on, but Will didn’t need to know more.

Despite all odds, he found that he liked Beverly in the short time they'd spent together. She could be a little tactless with her ways, though he put it down to her no-nonsense style rather than true malice. He still didn’t like the idea of having an alpha handler to basically keep an eye on him, but if it was going to be anyone, he was glad that it was someone like her. He could see them working well together if he didn't manage to scare her off with his empathy later on.

Will nodded and let out a sigh, opening his satchel to bring out a bottle of aspirins. He popped two of them dry, wincing when he swallowed. He waited until the headache subsided into a manageable pounding before he turned to Beverly again.

She was looking at him askance, her eyes on the bottle of aspirin. “You self-medicate a lot?”

Will snorted. “Don’t.”

“Just wondering,” she replied with a grin, unrepentant. “Well. You’re technically still not part of the BAU just yet, at least not until you signed some papers. But I could give you a rundown on all the evidence we’ve had so far?”

Grateful for the offer, he nodded and ignored the pounding of his head, giving her his full attention while she went through what forensics had processed so far.

To his pleasant surprise, the headache eventually subsided, and he found himself enjoying the time he spent with Beverly. Certainly a first when it came to spending some time with an alpha. He’d rarely felt a sense of camaraderie with most people. It was a change of pace to find someone he could click with. Maybe this could work out after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates will be sporadic, I'm still outlining things so I'm not really sure how many chapters this will end up being. Knowing my track record, I will promise nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

It took him fifteen days poring over all the evidence and a fresh crime scene to point Jack in the direction of the Garrote Killer.

The killer had grown impatient in between his kills, and his seventh victim had proven to be his downfall. Though the killer wasn’t sloppy, there were enough clues for Will to narrow down his profile. That had cinched the investigation in Jack’s favor, and the FBI sent a group of agents to storm the killer’s house while he was having dinner with family.

Will wasn’t part of the raiding team. He was just the bloodhound sent to scent the scene, discarded when it became clear that they've pinpointed the perpetrator. He was grateful not to be included in the raiding team, though there was a sour aftertaste to the whole thing when he considered just why Jack had told him to sit this one out. 

When Jack had brought Will to the crime scene a few days back, Will had thought nothing of it. He taught future FBI agents how to profile serial killers, after all. He’d seen worse things than most, even with his omega’s “delicate sensibilities”, and he’d borne through them all with a bearing that would put some alphas to shame.

The reality of delving into the killer’s mind while at a fresh crime scene was a different thing altogether, however.

He hadn’t expected to come out of his mindscape so affected by what he’d seen. What he felt when he came to was a mess of sensations: His body shivering from the cold sweat sticking to his skin, Jack’s voice shouting to give Will room, the susurration of other people’s movements as feet shuffled over the carpeted room, the harsh and solid ground beneath his knees, the sweat-dampened shirt clinging to his skin, a flash of light inside each of his eye, and gloved fingers against his forehead and cheek. 

So, Will’s portentous words about him falling apart at a crime scene viewing had come true. Which led to Jack pulling him out of the case once he’d prised a profile from Will.

Maybe he _should_ have been a seer instead, he thought as he read TattleCrime’s headline in the privacy of his office (“Garrote Killer Caught At Last: Foiled By FBI’s Noose Around His Neck”). He skimmed the content and closed the website when he saw a mention of his name, disgusted and annoyed at his damned curiosity.

What did it matter what Lounds of all people say about him?

 _Oh, but you care,_ his inner voice taunted. _That_ _’s why you looked up the article, isn’t it?_

“Oh, shut up,” he said to his subconscious.

A rejoinder he didn’t expect, then: “I’ve barely said anything.”

His head snapped up at the sound of Beverly’s voice, and he frowned when he saw her at the doorway of his office. She was leaning against the doorframe, a hand on the doorknob and lips curled up in a barely-there smile.

He squinted at her relaxed stance. “How long were you there for?”

Beverly grinned. “Okay, I lied, I did say something, and I figured you wouldn’t hear what I said. So I was right.”

She slid into his office and left the door slightly ajar. Mindful at the fact that Will might be uncomfortable being cooped up in his office with an alpha, especially since he hadn’t invited her in. Thoughtful, but unnecessary in this case.

“To answer your question,” she said, plopping into the seat across from him, “I’ve been here for… three minutes, maybe? You were pretty absorbed in whatever you were doing, up until you told me to shut up. Reading a particularly riveting journal?”

Her teasing tone pulled a sigh out of him, though he wasn’t annoyed. At least not with her.

“I was reading Lounds’ latest,” Will mumbled, closing out of the browser. No need to rehash the article when it was just going to annoy him further.

“Ah.” Beverly nodded in sympathy. “Probably shouldn’t read anything on TattleCrime if you want to stay sane. I take it you’ve read her latest missive on you, then?”

“Missive is a word for it.” Will looked at his wristwatch. It was thirty minutes past his usual office hour. He must’ve misjudged the time he’d spent reflecting over the outcome of this Garrote Killer. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Beverly shrugged. “Just wanted to check up on you after what happened. You feeling okay?”

On one hand, he liked that she didn’t beat around the bush. But on the other hand, he didn’t appreciate being reminded of his failure at the crime scene.

Then again, the only reason he _was_ okay was because Beverly was there. It was Beverly who had pulled him out of his dive into the Garrote Killer’s mind, shielding him against the rest of his surroundings as he tried to gather himself. It was Beverly who had stood firm against Jack when he’d started asking Will to rattle off whatever he’d gleaned from the crime scene, uncaring for Will’s state of mind. It was also Beverly who’d brought him back to his car and stayed with him until she was sure he wasn’t experiencing any blackout or seizures. As occupied as he was with his the killer’s thoughts at the time, he was cognizant enough of the fact that she was there for him throughout his episode.

Lounds, of course, had observed all of this and included a snippet of her account in the article. Something unimaginative and scathing about the FBI letting an unstable omega figure out their leads for them. Which wasn’t completely untrue. Though he couldn’t care less what the articles said about the FBI, he didn’t appreciate her including him in the article. There was a real danger of Lounds digging up more information on him just so she could feature him prominently the next time he appeared at a crime scene. He had a headache just thinking about it.

Still. What happened had been embarrassing, but it could have also been a lot worse, and part of why it wasn’t was because of Beverly.

He sighed. “I’m okay.” He licked his lips, feeling unaccountably awkward. “Uh, thanks, by the way. For what you did.”

Beverly looked taken aback. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You stuck up for me, even though Jack was being pretty pushy about the whole thing at the crime scene,” he reminded her. “Not a lot of handlers would do that for an omega they barely know. Least of all against someone like Jack Crawford.”

“Huh. Sounds like you had some run-ins with a few assholes, then.”

Will smirked. “Yeah, well. You’d be surprised at how many of them there are in this field.”

“Comes with the territory, I guess, though that’s not really an excuse to behave like one.” Beverly eyed him as if she could glean his condition just from gazing at him. “I’m glad you’re okay, though. You got home okay after that, right?”

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing a hand across his face. Beverly hadn’t coddled him or offered to drive him home after that episode, mercifully. “It’s just… I rarely react that way when I look at the photos. I guess seeing it firsthand had some unintended consequences.”

Beverly nodded in commiseration. “The first time I processed my first crime scene, the stench alone was almost enough to make me retch. By the time we found the body, it was a bloated mess, so we could smell it even through some masks, y’know? Combine all of your five senses with your active imagination… I can only imagine how much worse it’d be for you.”

“I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but that just makes me sound like a total amateur.”

Beverly frowned. “No one else had to look at the victim’s body and try to reconstruct the killer’s thinking, did they? People should pay their respects to you, considering the toll it takes on you. Chill, Graham. You were the reason we caught the guy in the end, yeah?”

That pulled a reluctant smile out of Will. “Good point.”

She smiled in return. “I’m glad you’re alright. Just so you know, you can always talk to me about these things. I’m not really trained as a ‘handler’, but… as a friend, I could lend you an ear or two when Jack comes running for you next.”

 _A friend._ Yeah, he could do that. He nodded slightly before frowning. “Wait. You’re telling me Jack is going to ask for my help again?”

Beverly gave him an exasperated smile. “Will, you caught the killer we’d been investigating for the past three months in a matter of weeks. What makes you think Jack is going to leave you alone after this?”

Beverly’s words turned out to be true.

After several weeks of not hearing anything from Jack, the alpha came bustling in once again, interrupting his lecture about the unsolved murder of a family of three. He was already at the end of his lecture anyway, but that didn’t lessen his exasperation once he’d dismissed the class.

Jack didn’t bother to wait for the students to file out of the classroom, immediately launching into it: “There’s someone killing children around the DMV area.”

Will pinched his nose, a headache already blooming in between his eyes at the mention of children. “How many?”

“Four, so far,” Jack replied, his mouth set in a grim line. “We’ve been trying our best, but I don’t think I want to wait until the fifth turns up before we call you in. You still in the saddle, Graham?”

Will gritted his teeth, wondering what the hell he could answer to that other than “Yes.”

Several studies posited it was in an omega’s nature to feel compassion towards children. Certain studies had gone even further to say that it was their child-bearing abilities that made this such a wonderful innate quality in omegas. Something precious, something valuable. Nature’s way of ensuring that the children will be well-loved by their siring omega. (Never mind that other studies had shown that alphas and betas were capable of such love, too. Predictably, most people chose to discount any studies that ran counterpoint to their beliefs and biases.)

Judging by society’s view on it, his status as a nurturing omega was definitely suspect. He had no desire to bring a child into this hellscape, not least because he didn’t want the child to grow up into a jaded version of him. He’d determined long ago that he wouldn’t have children, content to have his pack of dogs instead.

His Pa had accepted this about him long before he passed away, though certain relatives were skeptical of Will’s choice when he answered their inevitable question of when he was settling down with a nice alpha or beta. They’d put his answers down to his willful ignorance, patting his hand patronizingly and telling him he’ll find someone that would make him change his mind eventually. They even sneered at his preference for “those confangled scentblockers” and suppressants. To this specific subset of people, the use of scentblockers, suppressants, and contraceptives were still considered distasteful; an unnatural way to stop nature at its course.

Will was glad that most professional fields required the use of scentblockers. It was nice not to be assaulted by someone’s dynamics every single second of the day, especially when you’re cooped up in a classroom with plenty of people all day long. But he digressed.

Will thought the whole discussion centering on an entire dynamic and ignoring all other factors was bullshit. Gender and dynamics aside, there was plenty of evidence that not all omegas had a nurturing nature, and this latest case only confirmed his view on it.

The perpetrator was likely an omega in their mid to late forties. A female omega, judging by the method of execution; a quick and merciful death by poison. No excessive use of violence and no signs of abuse on the deceased children. The children were abducted during their journey to and from school. No signs of malnourishment on the children themselves when they’d been found, though they were kept in captivity for at least a week before they were dispatched.

 _They were found lacking,_ Will thought numbly, _unable to fulfill the cavity, but why? Why isn_ _’t this working? Why did you betray me, why can’t I have this, why isn’t this working, it’s supposed to work, I’m supposed to be happy, so why is this never enough—_

“Will?”

The sound of fingers snapping together brought his gaze back into focus, and he frowned at the outstretched hand in front of him. He blinked rapidly for a few seconds, forcing himself to focus until he saw Beverly frowning at him with concern. Casting a look around the room, he realized he was still at the BAU laboratory, sitting alone in the dimly lit room. He frowned when he glanced at his wristwatch. It was close to 7 PM.

He opened his mouth, closed it again. Cleared his throat. “Uh, what happened to Zeller and Price?”

Beverly gave him an odd look. “I’m not sure, I’ve been deposed in court the whole day and only just got back.” She frowned at the scattered papers in front of him; evidence of the five victims they’d found so far. “How long have you been in here?”

“I’m… not sure.” Will frowned. “I think the last thing I remembered was talking to Price, or maybe it was Zeller? And then… well, here you are.”

Beverly’s lips pursed. “So they were with you for a few hours while you guys went over the autopsies, I’m guessing?”

“Something like that,” Will said, shaken at the realization that he couldn’t remember when he’d seen the betas last.

He’d gone to the laboratory at Jack’s request once he was done with his classes. It had been after 4 PM then. Zeller and Price were there while he sat in on their autopsy on the fifth victim, and they’d talked over the evidence for a few hours. He wasn’t sure how long had passed between what he remembered and the present moment.

Well, shit. He'd never lost time before.

Beverly stayed silent, though she looked even more worried when Will didn’t supply any excuses for his distraction. “Jack didn’t pull you to any crime scenes in my absence, did he? I’m pretty sure he couldn’t have unless he found another alpha—”

Will shook his head. “No, no. Just… I guess I got lost in my thoughts when I looked at the files or something.”

“Will, are you really okay?” Beverly pressed. She leaned against the desk in front of him, peering closely at him. “Don’t feel like you need to bullshit me, okay? We’re friends, right? You can tell me if something is wrong.”

Will swallowed down his confusion, his trepidation, eyes darting back and forth to the files on the desk and Beverly’s concerned gaze.

In the last few weeks, Beverly had made true on her promise to be his friend, as juvenile as it sounded. After the Garrote Killer case, she’d continued to seek him out with no other reason than to have inane conversations with him or pull him for lunch or a snack break if she thought he’d skipped on meals. (She had the uncanny ability to tell, somehow. Something about living with siblings who’d behaved in the same manner and knowing when someone was lying to her, as far as he could tell from the things he could piece together of what makes Beverly Katz.)

He’d appreciated the overtures of friendship, thawing under her constant appearance at his side when he’d least expected it. His students had made note of it, whispering to each other on the rare occurrence of their professor making friends and meeting with an unmated alpha. He’d rolled his eyes when their whisperings reached him, made some comment on it during a lecture, and leveled everyone with an unimpressed stare before willing them back into submission. It worked for a few weeks, but of course, people persisted to talk, though they took care not to do it while Will was around.

Beverly didn’t seem to mind, shrugging when Will had asked what people would think if they always see them hanging around together.

“What’s wrong with two adults talking to each other?” She had laughed then, not worried in the least. “Don’t these people have better things to do with their lives?”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you,” Will drawled with his characteristic humor.

Beverly snickered; she always seemed to appreciate his dry observations. “Honestly, things must be really boring with your lectures that your students are resorting to gossip about something so dull.”

Will scowled. He did catch a few students falling asleep sometimes, though he opted not to share that information with her.

So they’d continued their unlikely friendship, even when Jack didn’t come calling. It was… pleasant, having someone he could call a friend. The only other person he’d call a friend was a fellow omega, Alana Bloom, but even Alana had hidden beneath a veil of professionalism when Will had tried to push for more, once upon a time. Something about Alana’s behavior suggested she was more interested in him professionally, and so he’d left it at that.

Now, he was wondering if he could really confide in Beverly. Would she be disturbed at the depths of Will’s darkness and depravity? Would she turn away when she’s realized the extent of it, unable to handle his dark thoughts? Beverly had only seen him stuck in the middle of a killer’s mind once, and he still wasn’t sure what she had thought of it afterward. He’d never asked, unwilling to bring himself to care enough to find out, and she’d never mentioned it.

Beverly seemed to sense his indecision. She looked down at her watch before turning back to him. “Hey, you up for a beer or two?”

Beverly ended up bringing them to a restaurant nearby.

Will had been to _Bull, Cock, and Swine_ only once before this when his colleagues had dragged him there for an “ice-breaking session.” This was back when everyone was eager to get to know each other, and Will hadn’t yet earned his reputation as the resident omega spinster who is liable to bite people’s head off at any perceived slight.

Needless to say, his colleagues had learned to leave him alone after that night when his taciturn mood soured the dinner for everyone else.

Honestly, he liked that his reputation preceded him. It meant that people mostly left him alone. He kept his interactions to a minimum; he had a few colleagues that he genuinely liked and a few students whom he thought had potential. But other than that, he’d relegated himself into the role he’d chosen for himself, content at the knowledge that nothing could hurt him that way.

It was 7:30 PM on a Thursday, and most people were having a few drinks to loosen up after work hours. The crowd comprised people who looked similarly worn out by the workday. Unsurprising considering most of the patrons who frequented the restaurants around Quantico were mostly FBI agents or Quantico personnel more often than not.

They seated themselves at one of the secluded booths in a corner of the restaurant. Will ordered a beer for himself, not wanting to drink too much, knowing that he still had to drive back to Wolf Trap and his pack. Beverly had no such compunctions, ordering two fingers of whiskey, neat, and two servings of chicken wings before turning to Will with a wide smile.

“So, how’re you feeling?” she prompted, taking a sip of her drink.

Will shrugged, not tasting the beer even as he went through the mechanics of drinking it. It felt awkward, sitting across someone he considered as a friend and trying to make small talks. It had been way too long since he’d had to socialize with someone without being forced into it. (Though technically, Beverly did kind of strong-arm him into coming here. Still, he didn’t feel forced as much as he felt persuaded to join her for an hour or two.)

“That bad, huh?” Beverly smiled, ignoring the awkward way Will was playing with his beer instead of drinking it. “Well, be glad you didn’t have the day I had.” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “I hate being called to testify.”

Will smiled despite himself, rubbing the palm of his hand against his glass of beer. “Thought you’d be used to it by now.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier. Just one of those things that you get used to over time, but going through it is always a mind-numbing experience. It’s so _boring._ ”

Will commiserated with a nod, still wondering what he was doing here.

“How’s Brian and Jimmy treating you, by the way?” Beverly asked.

Will snorted at the question. “What, you going to beat them up if they bullied me or something?”

“Pretty sure you can hold your own, especially after the way you talked to Jack.” Beverly smirked. “I just wanna be there if you’re planning to knock them down a peg or two. I’ll bring popcorn and everything.”

That startled Will into a laugh. “The salted kind?”

“Ew, no. Caramel popcorn all the way.”

Will wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know if I can be friends with someone who prefers caramel over salted popcorn.”

Beverly mimed an arrow piercing her heart, though she smirked at his repartee. “See, that’s the Will Graham I know. You wanna tell me what’s going through that head of yours? When did Jack bring you in for the case, anyway?”

Will sighed and leaned back in his seat, rubbing a palm over his face. “Today. A few hours ago. Well. More than. Interrupted my morning class, and then I went to the lab after my evening lectures were done.”

“Right. So I guess Brian and Jimmy brought you up to speed.”

“More or less. You already have a loose profile on the killer, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we had Dr. Bloom on the case, though I think Jack’s getting frustrated that she’s getting nowhere.” Beverly’s wry tone showed him just what she thought of Jack’s impatience. Her gaze turned assessing. “Why didn’t you say no to Jack?”

Will shrugged. “There were kids involved. Hard to say no to that kind of guilt-trip.”

Beverly pursed her lips at his bitter tone, though she said nothing for the moment, opting to dig into the chicken wings while the silence grew. Will took another swig of his beer, looking around the restaurant and trying to forget about the impressions he’d gotten from the crime scene photos earlier.

It was hard to deny Jack for this case because despite Will’s less-than-nurturing nature, he wasn’t unaffected by the thought of children being harmed. His empathy meant that these feelings were harder to tamp down and shove aside once they’d burrowed deep inside him. He usually distanced himself from the victims when he’d looked at the photos, but when he’d seen the latest victim’s body at the morgue, something came loose and the perpetrator’s afterimages had barreled into him, catching him off guard.

He suspected that was when he’d disassociated, so much so that he didn’t even realize that Brian and Jimmy had left him alone in the laboratory afterward. Did they notice anything odd about him at the time? Or were they so used to his quirks and weird tendencies that they didn’t question his silent stare at the photos until his eyes burn with the other omega’s emotions?

Beverly’s voice intruded into his thoughts. “So what did you figure out?”

Will stared down into his drink, keeping both hands on his mug to ground himself. He cleared his throat. Kept his head down as he talked. “You’re looking for an omega who’s in her mid-30s or early 40s, someone who’s most likely barren or unable to conceive because of circumstances. She was looking for a specific connection with these kids; look for patterns connecting them. They were abducted from similar neighborhoods, but the parents’ profiles don’t matter. It’s the kids themselves that had the, uh, characteristics she required out of this… playhouse thing she has going on.”

He swallowed harshly. “When she felt like she couldn’t quite connect with them, she’d toss them away and start a new project.”

He could feel Beverly staring holes into his skin, but he refused to look up. He knew that his ability to look through the veneers people put up made other people disconcerted, especially when he spewed out things like this. Things that people don’t want to hear, things that no one else could see, things that make little sense to them because they don’t _want_ to see. It was one of the things that Will had learned to conceal about himself earlier on in his life.

“Will, eat the chicken wings.”

Will frowned and looked up to find Beverly looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Whatever he’d expected Beverly to say, it definitely wasn’t that. “What?”

Beverly raised her eyebrows. “Eat the chicken wings. I can promise you’ll feel at least twenty percent better if you eat something instead of drinking beer on an empty stomach.”

His traitorous stomach growled at that. It was sort of hard to argue the point when both of them heard it. Beverly grinned as if to say, “See?”

Will rolled his eyes, but he obliged her request while she nursed her drink. It wasn’t the best chicken wing he’d ever tasted, but the spicy flavor brought some spark to his taste buds, and by the time he finished a serving he _was_ feeling a lot better. He grabbed another.

Beverly didn’t comment on it, though she looked pleased that Will had entertained her request. “I’ll be back in the lab tomorrow if you want to throw your ideas around and tell Jack about what you just told me,” she offered instead.

“Uh,” Will said.

Beverly smirked. “Eloquent as always. You want another set of wings?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to the peeps who are here for Beverly and Will, thank you for sticking with me <3 We're not gonna meet Hannibal until chapter 5, so I hope everyone enjoys more Bev/Will content because it's definitely coming lmao.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite his misgivings over the whole “alpha handler” thing, Will eased into the friendship developing between him and Beverly.

Out of all the BAU team members, she was the only one who had met his challenging, prickly personality head-on, and it was easier to enjoy her company than he’d thought. She never turned away with disgust when he spilled out his dark thoughts and insights on the killer _du jour_ (or more like killer _du mois;_ they don’t get these killers on the daily, which Will was grateful for).

In contrast, Brian always looked at Will as if he was some kind of hack when he told them what they needed to hear. Jimmy, a neutral and a playful beta at heart, would give him a perplexed look, never one to give offense if he could help it. Jack would just grumble when he couldn’t pry more out of Will for the day, never mind that Will had given him all that he could.

Beverly alone remained unflappable. She would be her usual meticulous self when she asked him questions, asking him for more details for clarity on things Will thought were clear without needing to be said. He’d cottoned on eventually that it was her way of de-mystifying other people’s view of his leap of deductions, which was admittedly hard to explain to others, especially when they weren’t patient enough to sit through Will’s explanations. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. The outcome wasn’t the important part; what mattered was that she was trying on his behalf.

At the end of the day, it was her brand of no-nonsense ways and everlasting patience for his quirks that Will appreciated. She didn’t treat him like an unstable omega, despite evidence to the contrary, and Will appreciated that even more. It was a lot worse to be coddled than pitied, as he’d had the chance to find out over the last few years.

Before he knew it, he’d been consulting for the BAU for four months. In those four months, he’d worked on three cases and had a perfect closure rate. So it wasn’t surprising that Jack kept him on the team, despite his acerbic ways and his tendency to go into a stupor at crime scenes. He didn’t care to temper the first, while the latter was something beyond his control.

Barring that first crime scene he’d been to for the Garrote Killer case, he hadn’t experienced similar breakdowns, however. It had become easier to look into the depraved minds of the killers they were chasing, which Jack had made note of when they’d caught the last one. Will had only shrugged in response. He couldn’t tell Jack the truth: That it wasn't necessarily a good thing, because each killer left a distinct aftertaste in his mind long after the cases had concluded.

“I still say you should tell him,” Beverly said, for what must have been the hundredth time since he’d confided this to her.

They were eating lunch at the cafeteria. Will avoided eating there most of the time, preferring to buy something he could eat during a break between his classes or when he was marking his students’ papers. Once Beverly came into the picture, however, he’d gotten roped into eating lunch at a more or less fixed time. It was a routine that he accepted with little to no complaints, if only because he noticed an improvement in his mood after a few weeks of being dragged to lunch.

“And I’m telling you I don’t want to,” Will replied, biting into his turkey sandwich.

It was one thing to confide it to Beverly; it was another to do so to the head of the BAU. Mostly because Will didn’t want to think about the repercussions. If Jack thought he needed more than one handler because of these lingering impressions, there was no telling what the alpha might do. Call in another alpha, maybe. Or worse, a therapist.

Beverly gulped down her energy drink as if she was running for a marathon. Gathering her energy. Maybe talking to Will _was_ like running a marathon, in a way. Even Will was exhausted with his own mind sometimes, so it was a wonder Beverly was still hanging around him for reasons he still couldn’t quite determine.

When she was finished with her drink, she eyed Will and pursed her lips. A clear tell of hers; she was fortifying herself to tell him something he wouldn’t like to hear, so he braced himself in reaction.

“Look,” she said, keeping her voice low. “You told me these things in confidence. So I’m not going to prattle about it to anyone else. You know this, right?”

Will gave her a wary nod, still chewing on bits of his sandwich.

Beverly nodded. “Good. I’m also not going to go behind your back and tell Jack what you told me because I think that’s what’s good for you. You know your own limits better than I do. But, and I know you sense there’s a but here: I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” She raised a hand when she saw he was on the verge of interrupting. “I know you may not want my help, but I’m offering it, anyway. I know what kind of toll this kind of job can have on all of us. You’re not the only one affected by what you see, but you do feel it stronger than most on account of your empathy.”

Will couldn’t help but ask, “Not on account of me being an omega, then?”

Beverly smirked. “We’ve been over this, but no. Not on account of that. Just promise me one thing: If you feel like you’re at your breaking point, you’ll tell me the truth.” She leaned in closer then, her brown eyes reflecting the cafeteria lights above them. “I like you, Will. I’d rather not see you spiral downwards whenever you look into these killers without someone to pull you back out. Can you promise me you won’t shut me out so that I can be there for you? That you’ll tell me if things get worse?”

There was something different in the way she looked at him with that beseeching expression. The intensity of her gaze left Will speechless for a moment, a blush creeping at the back of his neck at the sincerity in her tone. Something warm settled in his belly at the admission. It was pathetic to think how strong his reaction was to someone saying they liked him as a friend. But then again, no one else had ever bothered to say those words to him before, and it left him reeling with something akin to shock and pleasure.

“I will,” he stammered out. He tore his gaze away from Beverly and fixed it on his half-eaten sandwich instead, though he forced himself to continue. “Thanks, Bev.”

Beverly’s sunny smile was back on her face by the time Will dared to look up. “Thank you, too. It’s all I’m asking. Help me to help you, eh?” The latter was delivered with a waggle of her eyebrows.

With the tension broken, Will returned her smile and flicked a crumpled sandwich wrapper her way, which she evaded with a laugh.

“Oh hey,” she said as an afterthought. “You doing anything after work? Want to shoot some targets later?”

In the end, Will went along with Beverly’s suggestion. He made his way to Quantico’s shooting range, Beverly already waiting for him by the time he got there. They were the only two people there from the looks of it. Evidently, other people had better things to do at 6 PM on a workday.

She was already fitted out with goggles and earmuffs, and she gestured for Will to do the same when she saw him. “Glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Will said, his voice tinted with light sarcasm.

She ignored his irritable mood, guiding him to a booth she’d prepared for them in advance. “So, I found out that imagining the targets as my enemies and shooting the fuck out of them was cathartic a few years back, so I’ve been doing it whenever I needed to let off some steam. I figured it’s worth a try for your predicament, see if you can exorcise those killers if you shoot them out of your system.”

Will snorted and swiveled to look at Beverly, who was busy correcting his stance. “Really? Are you licensed to prescribe this as therapy, Ms. Katz?”

“That’s Dr. Katz to you,” Beverly said, swatting his shoulder lightly.

“But is your doctorate in psychology?” Will laughed when Beverly rolled her eyes.

“No, smartass. But I am licensed to kick your ass to Timbuktu because I have a black belt in karate and I take kickboxing classes. So, you know, you should probably listen to me if you don’t want to get your ass kicked.”

Will rolled his eyes, but he allowed Beverly to guide his limbs into the correct stance until she was satisfied.

She stepped back to give him space. “Okay, give it a try.”

Taking a deep breath, Will straightened his outstretched arms and focused on the target in front of him. Even if he’d rolled his eyes at the idea that he could exorcise his demons out this way, it wouldn’t cost him anything to try. Ignoring everything except for the target in front of him, he took another deep breath and focused on the sound of his breathing, on his hands, and his steady heartbeat. He imagined the Garrote Killer in front of him, then. Imagined the beta who’d seen fit to strangle people to death with his weapon of choice because of his long-held grudges and dissatisfaction at other people’s good fortune.

Another deep breath, and then he pulled the trigger.

The recoil surprised him only because he hadn’t pulled a trigger in a decade. Once the initial shock subsided, he took another aim and imagined the omega who’d killed the children who refused to play house with her.

Three deep breaths, and another pull of the trigger.

When he aimed at the target for the third time, the image of the latest killer he’d caught flickered to life in a second. As if he was waiting for Will to bring him to mind.

Will pulled the trigger.

The images of these killers merged into a single entity before they disappeared into thin air. Though their afterimages were still there at the back of his mind, their presence was now a faint thing. Something in him let go, and he lowered his arms to his side. It took a long moment for the sounds and sight to come rushing back in, for his senses to reconnect with his surroundings. His hand tightened around the gun before he flicked the safety on.

It felt good.

There was a shuffling sound before Beverly stepped beside him, the alpha pressing a button on the control panel to bring the target forward. She whistled when she saw the holes where the bullets had pierced through the target. Will had managed to land all three bullets inside the target’s silhouette, with one of them grazing near the bullseye.

“Not bad, Graham,” Beverly said, turning to him with an impressed smile, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the booth partition. “Where did you learn how to shoot?”

Will smiled, setting the gun down on the counter and rubbing his wrist. “Courtesy of my dad. Used to bring me to a shooting range to learn how to fire a gun. Me being an omega and all, he gave me all the self-defense lessons he could afford. It was the only way someone like me could learn how to shoot. They sure as hell wouldn’t let me on the force, and omegas had to have a guardian to learn this sort of thing otherwise.” 

“Well, that’s one way to subdue a guy. Your stance could use some improvement, though. You prefer the Weaver?”

“I learned a bit of both. Though I tend to go back to the Weaver because of the recoil. Feels more natural.”

Beverly nodded, still smiling. “Not bad for an untrained civilian.”

“Thanks. Does this mean Jack is going to bring me to a raid next time?” He was only half-sarcastic in his jest. There was no doubt in his mind that Jack wouldn’t hesitate to bring him along if he’d thought it would help.

By the downward curl of Beverly’s lips, she clearly thought so too. She waved it aside. “Never mind Jack. I’m not gonna let him pull you into that shit. You’re supposed to be our consultant, nothing more.”

Will smiled at the assurance.

“So do you feel better?” Beverly’s keen eyes observed him as he struggled with his answer.

“It felt… good. Though I don’t think it’s as easy as that to dispel all this mess inside of my head.”

Beverly frowned. “We’ll figure something out later, then.”

Will rolled his shoulders, smiling at the obvious concern. “Thanks for trying.”

“I’m not giving up just yet.” She tilted her head. “What do you usually do when you’re stressed out? And don’t answer booze.”

Will shrugged, rummaging a hand through his curls. “Uh, okay, aside from the drinking…” He smirked at Beverly’s eye roll. “I go fishing sometimes. Or take my dogs for a hike along the trails around my house.”

Beverly’s eyes shone at the mention of dogs. “You have dogs?”

“Oh my God, you have _five dogs?_ ” Beverly exclaimed later that week. She squinted at the pack as they surrounded her when she got out of her car. “Are you even allowed to have five of them?”

Will shrugged. “What the state doesn’t know won’t hurt ’em.”

Beverly laughed. “You sly dog. Pun totally intended.”

Will rolled his eyes and stepped aside to let Beverly and his dogs inside.

Once Beverly had discovered the existence of his pack, there was no way to dissuade her questions about them. Not that he’d minded; he could go on and on about his dogs, if people cared to listen. He’d shown her a few choice photos of his dogs (though he didn’t have a photo of all of them together) and Beverly had somehow got herself invited to join them for a hike today.

Which was why Beverly was now inside his house, looking around the space and taking everything in after he’d introduced her to his pack. She smirked when she saw the dog baubles on the bookshelves. “Really? Five dogs not enough for you?”

Will smirked and leaned against the doorway leading to his kitchen, watching the way Beverly moved around the space. She avoided touching anything—avoiding leaving a scent on his belongings—though the way she paced around the space spoke of her curiosity. He found he didn’t mind her pacing as much as he would have. The him before this would’ve been affronted or annoyed, perhaps, but Beverly had earned the right to finagle a visit to his house.

She gazed at his fishing lures with some interest, asking him questions on its constructions and the materials he’d used. She eyed the books on the shelves and remarked on some of the titles and teased him about his collection. (He would not apologize for his invested interest in classic romance literature.) When it came to the piano sitting at the corner by the window, she couldn’t resist running her fingers over the keys, smiling at the off-tune sound.

“I haven’t played in a while,” Will said.

Beverly laughed. “I wasn’t judging. Are you any good?”

“You’re probably better at the violin than I am at the piano.”

She threw an amused smile at him. “I play the piano, too, you know.”

“Huh,” was Will’s only reply to that. “Uh, you want some tea or something before we go? I was just packing some snacks for later.”

“Nah, I’m good.” She turned away from the piano and smiled at the dogs who’d followed her trail around the house, crouching down to entertain their curiosity. “I brought sandwiches and hot chocolate. Ready when you are, captain.”

“Let me just get my bag, then.”

It was a mild autumn, and the weather cooperated with them as Will led the way through one of the well-trodden trails that started from the back of his house. It was one that he’d taken countless times before this, and his dogs were familiar with the path by now. They arrived at a stream forty minutes later and settled themselves around the area for a snack break. Will kept the dogs away from the waters, herding them on the side of the riverbank while Beverly set out a modest picnic spread for them.

He was grateful for the hot chocolate, if only for something to warm his hands with. He pressed the warm cup against his cheek, repeating the motion for the other side. They had been buffeted from the wind while they were trudging inside the woods, but here at the riverbank, the breeze sent a chill through them.

Still, despite the cooler temperature, it was nice. They ate their salmon sandwiches in silence while the dogs milled around them to whine for scraps. Beverly produced dog treats from her bag, and Will looked on, amused, as she tried to get them to perform tricks for a treat.

“You came prepared,” he said, laughing as Buster yipped excitedly when Beverly tossed him a treat.

“I would’ve brought more if I’d known you had five of them.” She wiped her hands on her jeans when she was out of dog treats. “I couldn’t tell from the photos, but jeez, Graham. I’ve heard of cat ladies, but I’ve never heard of a dog lads.” She wrinkled her nose. “Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s the reason it hasn’t caught on.”

Beverly laughed at his sardonic tone. “This is nice, though. Do you come here to fish?”

“No, there’s not a lot of them here. There’s another trail that takes me an hour to get further upstream. But I usually go somewhere else for fishing.”

“Still, this is a great spot.” She smiled when their gaze met.

He listened to the sounds of the stream, breathed in the scent of the forest and the cool air around them. He had always enjoyed the solitude that his life afforded him, but there was also something pleasant in sharing a part of himself with someone else. It was nice to have his solitude intruded upon in this way.

“Yeah,” he said after a few minutes of contemplation. “It’s great.”

They made it back to Will’s house three hours later, content and tired from the exercise. Will washed the dirt off the dogs before giving them their homemade lunch. When he turned to Beverly, she was watching him from the side with a fond smile on her face.

Will rubbed his hands against his jeans. “Uh, you heading back?”

She shrugged. “I guess. Do you always give them homemade food?”

“Yeah. Why is that funny?”

“You haven’t even prepared lunch for yourself, but you have gourmet food ready for your dogs.”

Will scoffed. “I wouldn’t call it gourmet _._ It’s easier to make them in bulk and save it for later. Some of them can’t have processed food.”

Beverly gave him a noncommittal hum, still looking amused at the disparity. She stretched her body and let out a satisfied groan when one of her joints popped. “Well. I guess I should get going. Thanks for inviting me here, it was fun.”

Will nodded, feeling awkward all of a sudden. He really did appreciate Beverly’s easy company; that was the only explanation he could think of for what he said next. “Do you want to have lunch first?”

Beverly stared at him, her lips quirking in a smile at his awkward stance. “Depends. Are you going to feed me dog food?” Off the insulted expression on his face, she laughed. “I’m kidding. No, seriously, I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re not imposing if I asked you to join me,” he grumbled, turning away and opening the fridge to scan its content. He took out a trout he’d defrosted earlier, ignoring Beverly’s eyes on him.

She chuckled. “Wow, you’re really bad at this, huh?”

Will set the trout on a cutting board, frowning when he turned to stare at Beverly. “Bad at what?”

When Beverly only continued to smile, Will raised an unimpressed eyebrow. His confusion grew when Beverly moved toward him, taking care to avoid the dogs around them before she stood before him. Something settled low in his belly when Beverly stared at him then, her gaze expectant. Their faces were only inches away; there was no way to mistake what was about to happen. If he wanted it to happen. His fluttering heart skipped a beat when Beverly closed the distance between them and pulled him for a kiss.

_Oh._

Somehow, he hadn’t realized that they’d been building up to this. Desire slowly simmered to the surface, and he opened his mouth to deepen the kiss—

Beverly pulled away. Will blinked, bereft at the loss.

Beverly was looking at him with an amused slant to her lips. She gave his shoulder a light squeeze, smiling at his confusion. “You can say no, you know, instead of just going with the flow.”

“Uh.” He was still trying to make sense of what had happened, but he knew that if he said nothing beyond that, Beverly would take it as a rejection. He wasn’t sure he wanted _that,_ so he pulled her in by her elbow, licking his lips while looking at hers. “Sorry. I’m just… realizing a few things.”

Her smile widened into a grin. “I can see that. My eyes are up here, you know. I can’t believe I have to use that line on you, of all people.”

Will winced. “Sorry, I just don’t like—”

The hand on his shoulder squeezed. “Relax, I’m kidding. I know you hate eye contact.” She pulled away reluctantly, though she gave his shoulder a last squeeze before she stepped back. She tilted her head and appraised him. “What did you think I meant when I said ‘I like you’ back then?”

His mind conjured up the moment with immediacy, the conversation still seared into his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck, hating the way his blush was spreading across his face. “I thought you meant, y’know, as a friend.”

“Well, yeah, I do like you as a friend. But I also kind of dig you on another level.”

Will had to laugh at that. “Where’d you get that pick-up line from, the 70s?”

Beverly chuckled. “I’m just saying. But seriously, I don’t mind if you say no. We’re both adults who can handle rejection.”

“I’m not saying no outright. Maybe we should have lunch first before… we talk about this?”

“As long as you don’t get all awkward on me,” she challenged, though her smile was wrapped in understanding.

Will licked his lips. “I can do that.”

Somehow, they get through lunch without it becoming too awkward. Will served them the trout he’d caught a few weeks earlier, and she’d expressed her complete surprise at how delicious everything was, and then they’re back to their normal bickering. It was less awkward than he’d expected after his late realization at their brewing attraction to each other. The fact that Beverly was attracted to him had come out of left field, though he supposed he’d ruled out any possibility that anyone would be attracted to him considering the things he lacked, like functioning social skills. After all, that was why Alana and the likes of her had never expressed any desire for anything more.

He still couldn’t fathom why Beverly would be interested in him of all people, and the thought consumed him throughout lunch even as he pretended otherwise. They were both single by choice, though Will’s choice was more out of self-preservation and a desire for independence. Despite the societal advance in the last four decades, most alphas he knew don’t appreciate an independent omega, preferring those who would capitulate or compromise to their expectations of what omegas should be. It was for that reason he’d decided earlier on that a spinster sort of life would suit him just fine.

Beverly was not a typical alpha, however. So maybe something could come out of this. Anticipation tinged the rest of their conversation, though neither of them addressed the matter, content to let it be for the moment.

After lunch, he lit up the fire in the hearth in the living room. The dogs ambled to their beds by the fireplace, dozing off in a matter of minutes. No doubt the exercise and their heavy lunch had tired them out, and Will felt similarly affected as he lowered himself into the couch near the fireplace, a glass of whiskey in his hand.

Beverly followed suit, smiling at the sight of the dogs. She’d declined a drink when Will had offered it earlier, so she only stared at the dogs and the roaring fire as she settled into the couch next to him. “Why do you have so many of them?”

Will shrugged. “They’re all strays. Some of them were injured when I found them, so I took them in for a couple of days until they get better. Most of them found other homes, but I kept some of them as you can see.” He smiled. “Make what you will out of that. A metaphor of me finding solace in a pack in the absence of a family or whatever.”

“You should probably stop reading those romance novels,” Beverly said, her grin teasing.

Will snorted. “Never had the stomach for them.”

“Those classics on your bookshelves count as unattainable romance novels, FYI.”

He conceded the point with a shrug. His eyes flicked over to her, then, and he cleared his throat. “Speaking of unattainable romance…”

Beverly laughed at the segue. “You are not smooth _at all,_ holy hell.”

“Yeah, well, I can admit that I’m not the best at this.”

“Same here. Especially since you didn’t even get my hints.”

Will gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Probably my fault more than yours. I, uh, tend not to get hints. Can’t decipher them for the life of me.”

“What, you couldn’t tell with your empathy?”

“For the last time, my empathy is not an all-you-can-see pass into people’s heads.”

“Huh. So you’re saying I should just be blunt and hit you over the head with it?”

“Metaphorically, yeah. I’ll charge you for assault otherwise.”

Beverly’s smile was wide and fond. “Honestly, though? I didn’t set out to woo you or anything. I meant what I said about being friends.”

Will frowned. “What changed, then?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I like your company more than most, and we work well together. And”—Beverly’s cheeks took on a darker hue—“I’ll be honest, there’s something about you and your brand of vulnerability that makes me want to… well, not exactly protect you, but it inspired something like that I guess.” She broke into a grin. “Plus, you’re really easy on the eyes.”

It was Will’s turn to blush. Most people weren’t so blunt with their desires, and it set something in him to receive this type of praise.

Beverly smiled at the change in Will’s demeanor. “You liked that, huh?”

He didn’t dignify that with an answer. Instead, he set his whiskey aside and rose from his seat. Beverly watched him as he closed the distance between them, her gaze turning anticipatory when Will settled himself between her legs. Their breaths mingled for a moment, and then Will kissed her.

Unlike their first kiss, this one turned exploratory in an instant. Will lowered himself until he was almost seated on Beverly’s lap, letting the alpha take his weight. Beverly did so with enthusiasm, an arm circling around his waist and the other winding into Will’s curls. It was easier to fall into this than he had thought. The last time he’d been with anyone was almost a decade ago, and he’d lost the desire for casual flings even before that. So it was somewhat surprising to find himself responding to the kiss with fervor.

When they parted from the kiss, Beverly’s cheeks were flushed, her hair mussed where Will’s hands had been through them. He liked the disheveled look it gave her.

Beverly grinned, wide and bright. “Wow, I would’ve been more blunt from the start if I’d known you were going to be such a good kisser.”

Will laughed. “Shut up.”

Beverly cocked an eyebrow. “Make me.”

And well, Will never could turn down a challenge.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some (minor spoiler-y) CW for this chapter at the end notes.

Despite their newfound enthusiasm for each other, the weekend had ended innocently enough.

Their kisses had wound down eventually, Beverly excusing herself just after dinner. Neither of them wanted to escalate their relationship into anything more, at least not for the moment. They were still in a weird adjustment period, after all, trying to test the boundaries with each other. Will hesitated calling it a relationship, even. They were colleague-slash-friends first and foremost, even if Beverly was technically his “handler.” (A term he still balked at even after all this while.)

His worry that the whole thing would be weirder than he could handle was unfounded when Monday rolled around. Beverly greeted him at 12:30 PM as usual and dragged him to lunch as if nothing had changed. And really, aside from the underlying tension thrumming underneath his skin throughout their conversation, nothing really had changed.

Jack still called him in for some cases, at least for the ones that had stumped the BAU for several weeks. As far as cases went, they weren’t too taxing on Will, or at least that was what he’d told Jack every time he asked.

This time around, Jack had invited Alana Bloom along as a co-consultant. He hadn’t seen Alana for a while, ever since they’d drifted apart due to their workload and Alana’s need for boundaries between the two of them. In the last few months, he heard that she’d gotten married to some wealthy alpha, though he didn’t care enough to find out more. At least it wouldn’t be too awkward to work with her again, seeing as she had the excuse of a spouse to keep him at a distance if she needed one.

Alana greeted them with a warm smile when she saw him and Beverly talking at a corner of the BAU laboratory, the two of them in the middle of an argument on the time of death for the latest victim.

“Hey, Will,” Alana said as she made her way to them.

“Hey.” Will gave her a strained smile. “Finished your last class?”

“Yeah, I would’ve come earlier, but I was talking to Hannibal and lost track of time.” Alana stared at the piles of photos arranged on the desk between them, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, her ring glinting under the fluorescent lights. “How are you guys holding up? Found anything yet?”

Beverly shook her head, sighing. “We analyzed the fingerprints and the hair strands we found on the scene, but _nada._ Looks like a dead end for now, though Will had a theory based on what we’d found.”

“Oh?” Alana perched herself against the desk. “What do you have so far?”

Will sighed and repeated what he’d told Beverly earlier to Alana, trying not to sound harassed when Beverly challenged his theories, even though they’d already went through their arguments the first time around.

“—I keep telling you, this is a different killer, so that means there are two of them on the loose—”

“Well, okay, so walk me through it again because I don’t think Jack is going to agree—”

“Forget Jack, why drag him into this—”

“Because _you_ have to convince him, and the only way to do that is if you can convince the rest of us—”

“Well, Jack can either take it or leave it—”

“Oh yeah, like he’s gonna take that as an answer. You know how he’s going to react—”

“Bev, come on, we’ve already gone through this once—”

“Uh, guys?” Alana laughed when Will and Beverly swiveled to her. “Wow, I didn’t know it could get so heated in here. Usually, it’s as cold as the morgue.” She chuckled at her own joke while Beverly gave her an amused smile.

The tension deflated somewhat at that. Will swallowed down the retort he had on the tip of his tongue, his mouth settling into a thin line, resentment still a bitter tang on his tongue.

Beverly smirked at his mulish display, though she relented with a gentler smile. “I think we can make a case for your theory, but like I said, Jack is a very hard man to persuade unless you know which buttons to push. I’ve worked for him for eons, and that lesson is ingrained within the BAU ranks.”

Will rolled his eyes. It was true that Jack was less keen on his theories when it looked as if Will had plucked it out of thin air, but really, why call Will at all then? Why can’t the alpha see that he was right? Jack was the head of the BAU, so it was frustrating how he couldn’t even see why Will would—

Beverly snapped her fingers a few inches away from Will’s face. “Hey, I can hear you thinking,” she said, laughing when Will glared at her. “Are you mad at me because you’re hangry right now? Is that what this is?”

“Hangry is not a word. Besides, you forced me to eat a Snickers bar a few hours ago, remember?”

“Yeah, well, looks like you need another one.” Beverly cackled at yet another glare from Will.

Alana watched their exchange with a bemused expression on her face, though her small smile belied her amusement. “You two seem to get along well.”

Will froze, trying to school his expression to give nothing away. Alana was more intuitive than most people he knew. Of course, she’d suspect something. Not that he and Beverly were trying to hide anything, because there wasn’t anything _to_ hide.

Beverly’s grin was wide, made even wider when Will rolled his eyes at her gleeful manner. She nudged an elbow into his side. “We get along like a house on fire, don’t we, Graham?”

“I wish I could extinguish you,” he said, drawing another chuckle from Beverly.

Alana looked back and forth between them, still torn between amusement and confusion at their camaraderie. Perhaps it was because she’d never seen him interacting like an actual human being with anyone else, Will thought. While it was true that he didn't usually socialize well with others, she didn’t have to look so surprised that he was getting along with someone for once.

Now that Beverly had gotten her kicks from digging into Will’s irascible mood, she turned to Alana for a new source of entertainment. “How’s your marriage coming along, by the way?” she asked Alana. “It’s been a few months, right?”

The change of topic had Alana smiling, looking shy at the question. “Oh, it’s been great. And yeah, it’ll be four months now, but we’ve known each other for a few years. It’s really not that much different if I’m honest, but you do sort of see a different side to them when you’re deciding whose turn it is to fold the laundry or when you’re filing taxes together.”

Beverly laughed. “I’m glad you’re doing well with the whole enterprise, then. Looks like you don’t need a handler anymore, huh?”

Alana scoffed at that, and the three of them shared cynical smiles. It didn’t escape their notice that Jack was much more willing to bring Alana back on board after she was married, since he wouldn’t have the headache of finding another handler for the omega.

Alana rolled her shoulders in a dainty shrug and gave them a wry smile. “Yeah, it’s kind of nice having people treat me like an actual human being now that I’m no longer an unmated omega.”

Beverly grinned. “So how’s—”

“Alright, enough chitchat!” Jack’s voice cut through the room, effectively stopping the chatter as he entered the laboratory with Brian and Jimmy in tow. “Dr. Bloom, glad to have you with us again. Will, Beverly, what do you two have for us so far?”

At Jack’s appearance, the tone of their discussion took on a more somber mood as the alpha pressed for more information, and any other thoughts that weren’t related to the case were thrown out the window for the moment.

The case they were working on wasn’t as taxing as the previous ones, though Jack increased his resources when it became apparent that there were two different killers involved. It had taken Will the better part of the week to convince Jack of it, but he could finally breathe a sigh of relief when the alpha came around to his theory. His relief was short-lived when Jack immediately asked for his profile on both killers, but still. Small victories and all that jazz.

It took them another three weeks to narrow it down to two suspects, Jack’s ire growing when it was revealed that the two killers were related to each other. That made it easier to capture their perpetrators in one fell swoop, however, especially when the two of them implicated the other when they were caught.

Beverly relayed the news of the capture to everyone in the laboratory, reading Jack’s terse updates on the raiding scene out loud. “Oh, sounds like they have a murder basement in their house. Jeez, the team who has to sweep through the evidence at the perp’s horror house would be there for a few days.” She sighed. “Jack’s probably going to call us in later.”

Brian groaned. “There goes my plan for tonight.”

“What, you have to cancel a date with your hand?” Jimmy asked in a cheerful tone, earning an eye roll from Brian. “A bonded alpha and omega pair going on a killing spree, though. Who would’ve thunk?”

“Well, I kind of did,” Will muttered, taking a sip of the watered-down drink the cafeteria advertised as coffee. It didn’t _taste_ like coffee, but he needed to drink something to get him through the rest of the day, so it was better than nothing.

Brian rolled his eyes. “Congratulations, what do you want, a gold medal?”

“I’ll make you one if you want,” Beverly said, giving him a playful wink.

Will huffed and downed the rest of his coffee. He didn’t care what Brian or Jimmy thought of him, though Brian’s petty and open dislike was beginning to grate on him. Still, he didn’t care enough to upset the precarious balance the team had going on, so he kept his mouth shut even if Brian’s comments strayed into more hostile territory more often than not.

Alana patted Will’s knee with an understanding smile. From anyone else, it would be a patronizing move, but Alana had known him longer than most, so he allowed it to pass without comment. “You did great, Will. Especially since you were the one who pointed out there were two different killers.”

Brian’s scowl grew at Alana’s words, though he knew better than to refute them. Judging by his dark looks, Jimmy would probably get an earful of Brian’s complaints later when they go for their usual after-work drink sessions.

 _Godspeed, Jimmy,_ Will thought.

“Well,” Alana sighed, rising from her seat and smoothing out her skirt. “I have to get going. I’ll catch you guys later.”

A chorus of “see you”s later and Alana was gone. With the other peacemaker gone, Brian gave a pointed raise of his eyebrow at Jimmy and the two betas made their excuses to be elsewhere, leaving Will and Beverly alone in the laboratory.

Beverly looked at her watch, not bothering to conceal her yawn. “It’s still kinda early, but you want to skip the rest of the workday?” Off Will’s disbelieving look, she grinned. “Come on, Jack made you cancel the rest of your class and he probably won’t come back to the office until tomorrow. Plus, you helped him solve two cases at once. You deserve to play hooky now and then, right?”

That was how he found himself playing pool with Beverly at some seedy bar she’d taken him to. Apparently, the only reason she vouched for the place was because she knew the owner, which meant they got free-flow drinks while they played pool for their allocated hour.

It being 4 PM on a weekday, most people were still at work, so they were the only ones at the pool table as they took their turns. Despite the lack of crowd, the stereo was blaring some 80s rock music Will used to listen to when he and his Pa were on the road. There was a distinct smell of smoke in the air that reminded him why he disliked bars in general, but the beer was passable. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d played hooky from school or work, much less the last time he did so with a friend.

“How are you so good at this?” Will grumbled, shaking his head as he leaned against the table, his chin perched on his cue stick.

Beverly grinned at him from where she was perched low on the table. “I was born to play pool,” she said before she launched her cue stick. She grinned when two of the balls sank into the pockets. “Not gonna lie, when I found out that you can actually become a professional for pool, I almost convinced my mom to let me join a tournament. Your turn, by the way.”

Will laughed as he took a shot, wincing when he missed his aim by a few inches. “I can believe that. What stopped you?”

“Lack of monetary support from my parents, mostly.” Beverly chuckled. “Though they were right in not letting me join in hindsight.”

“What, because the others would’ve kicked your ass?”

“They wish,” she drawled. She knocked another ball into a pocket, earning another frown from Will. “No, I think I would’ve gotten bored eventually. It’s more fun looking at dead bodies, don’t you think?”

Will scoffed. “Speak for yourself.”

“What, you mean it’s _not_ fun when Jack drags you around to autopsies?”

Will snorted. “Oh, yeah, a lot of fun to have people use you for your empathy to catch all the psychopaths by looking at all the corpses. Pretty sure I’ll be joining them at the rate Jack is pushing me.”

“What, the psychopaths or the corpses?”

“Same difference.”

Beverly frowned then, straightening her stance and staring at him. “You still having nightmares?”

Will shrugged and avoided her eyes. “A few.” He had mostly lived with the nightmares, knowing what he did for the FBI saved lives. Still, it was hard to keep that straight in his mind whenever Jack took that as a cue to throw him more serial killers to catch.

Her frown grew heavier. “Will, I told you to let me know if it’s getting worse.”

Will sighed. “It’s not _that_ bad. I’m managing.”

She pursed her lips, though she kept her silence on the subject. For now. “Fine. Let me just kick your ass at pool so that we can get out of here since you’re clearly not gonna win this one.”

Will huffed through his nose, but he didn’t bother denying her claims when the 8 ball landed in the pocket during his turn.

It was only half-past five by the time he and Beverly stepped out of the bar side-by-side. Early still, even though business at the bar was picking up somewhat. Beverly had made their goodbyes to the owner of the bar earlier, exchanging a hug before they left.

“So where you off to?” Beverly asked as she yawned and stretched at the stairs leading down to the parking lot. “You’re rushing off to make more gourmet food for your dogs or something?”

“Nah, tonight it’s a Chef Boyardee special for them,” Will said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Beverly chuckled. “They’re super spoiled, aren’t they?”

“It’s not even _that_ hard to cook for them.”

“Okay, okay, chill out. Seriously, are you in a hurry?”

Will sighed and rolled his shoulders. “No, just tired is all.”

“You want to grab dinner together before you head back?”

“Didn’t we _just_ eat, or is that your ploy to feed me agai—” Will stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Beverly when something dawned on him.

There was nothing suggestive in her tone, but she grinned at Will’s realization of the meaning behind her words. The thrumming tension beneath his skin was back at the mere suggestion of dinner and perhaps something more. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t gotten laid for so long, or maybe it was the fact that they both just needed to relieve their stress after almost a month of trying to catch the two killers. Either way, there was something tempting in accepting the offer and to hell with the consequences. Besides, if there was anyone with whom he could break it off with as cleanly as he could, it would be Beverly.

“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “I could eat something. You, uh, got any suggestions?”

Beverly’s wide smile was answer enough.

+++

Beverly’s apartment was nearby, as it turned out. A funny coincidence, that.

Will told her as much, insinuating that the venue of their friendly competition of pool was suspiciously convenient and entirely in Beverly’s favor. Beverly only grinned as she led them inside. He wasn’t sure what to expect out of the visit, but it was clear that Beverly had some ideas from the way she pounced on him once the door was locked and their jackets were shucked off. He gave back as good as he got, chasing her lips and nipping them as she held his wrist to lead him to the bedroom.

By the time they made it there, Will had managed to lose his glasses and his shirt. Beverly was in a similar state of undressed, removing her top and bra while Will was otherwise occupied. It was just as Will was guided down onto the bed that Beverly cocked an eyebrow, smiling at the sight of him.

“Last chance to back out,” she said, gathering her hair to tie it back into a ponytail.

Will snorted and unbuckled his belt, knowing that was answer enough.

Beverly smiled at the silent acceptance. “You need lube?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m on suppressants, so—”

“Say no more.” She left him to strip down to his boxers as she went in search of lubricant. When she reemerged from the bathroom with a bottle of lubricant and condoms in hand, she was already naked and half-hard.

Will swallowed at the sight and allowed himself to be pushed onto his back, Beverly’s hand pressing him into the mattress as she settled between his legs. They stared at each other as Beverly coated her fingers with the lubricant, Will’s eyes fluttering closed when her fingers breach him. It had been a while since he’d done this, and the sensations felt odd for the first few minutes before his body finally relaxed into the touch.

From there, it didn’t take long for his own natural lubricant to come into play, not with how Beverly teased him. Even the suppressants wouldn’t be able to stop his natural biological response to the continued stimulation, though there’s not as much slick as there would be if he were in heat. It doesn’t matter, however, because Beverly was very adept at finding that sweet spot inside him.

“Bev,” Will stuttered out, eyes still screwed shut as sparks of pleasure burst behind them. Embarrassment flooded him when the moans spilled out of him; try as he might, he couldn’t control his reactions.

“It’s okay, Will,” Beverly murmured, her fingers stroking him from the inside in a gentle, insistent probe. “Just let go and feel it.”

Will could only moan in response to that, his hands gripping the sheets at a particularly pleasurable thrust of her fingers. He didn’t know how long she spent fingering him open, but when she pressed a soft kiss on top of his knee, he was already sweating from all his writhing. He opened his eyes to see her smiling down at him.

“You want to do it like this?” she asked, rolling a condom on herself. “Or on your hands and knees?”

His cock twitched at the mere suggestion, though he couldn’t form any coherent words at the moment. He repositioned himself on his hands and knees, his body trembling with anticipation. Beverly must have seen the way he avoided her eyes, and this was her way of taking pity on him. Either way, it was easier for him to sink to his knees even after years of being mostly celibate.

Beverly was a warm and solid weight on top of him, her legs bracketing his as she pressed against him. Though they were almost the same height, there was no denying that Beverly was an alpha when they were pressed together like this, her heavy weight smothering him in the best ways. He shivered against the sensation of Beverly’s breasts against his back, her hand roaming across his skin with the other hand leisurely stroking his leaking cock with teasing touches.

“Bev,” he groaned. “In me, now.”

Beverly’s chuckle reverberated through her. She kissed his nape. “I thought you’d appreciate a bit of foreplay.”

“Not right now, no,” he gritted out, closing his eyes and gasping when the blunt head of her cock finally nudged against his rim. He let out a huff of laughter. “’S been a while.”

“Yeah?” She sighed as she nudged inside him slowly, groaning at the sensation. “Me, too. Don’t worry, I still remember where all the bits go.”

Will gave a strangled laugh at that. “Bev, come on.”

“Hold on, hold on. God, you’re so tight.”

Something tightened in his belly at those words, his cock twitching with interest. Will groaned when she pushed forward again, her hand still stroking him lightly. “Like I said, it’s been a while.”

He tried to relax, dropping his head between her shoulders and bearing down when Beverly pushed in. His breathing was loud in his ears, sweat pooling on the sheets beneath him where they dripped from his forehead. When Beverly was seated inside him, both of them moaned at the feeling of Will’s body clenching around her. She waited until his shuddering stopped, her breath a whisper against his skin.

“You okay?”

Will nodded as much as he could. “Yeah.”

It seemed that was all it took. She started moving, her hands holding his hips in a firm grip as she pulled out slightly and drove back in. Shallow thrusts, at first, to get the two of them used to the pace. When Will began to moan again, she took that as a sign to pick up the pace.

The faster pace had Will biting back his sounds as he braced himself against the mattress. It had been a while since he’d had an attentive partner like Beverly, and he worked to meet her thrusts as much as he could. Encouraged, Beverly changed her angle, slotting her body closer to him. Sparks of pleasure filled him at the way Beverly’s thrusts grazed against his prostate, and he couldn’t control his pleasured sounds anymore.

Will moaned. “Bev, oh my God.”

“Good?” Bev panted against his skin, her breathing sounding labored.

“Yeah, ’s good,” he slurred. He keened when her hand returned to his cock, already aching with the need to come. “Bev, fuck—”

“You feel so good.” Beverly huffed, her hand still stroking him even as she pounded into him, making him see stars. “So tight for me”—she groaned in appreciation when he tightened around her—“yeah, just like that. Come on, baby—”

Will let out a curse at the pet name, drawing a huff of laughter out of Beverly. He could feel his orgasm building, the blistering rhythm Beverly set so perfect that his toes curled with the pleasure. He was incoherent with it, made even more so when he finally reached his climax after minutes of Beverly pounding into him. His body clenched around Beverly like a vice, urging her to her own orgasm. He heard her litany of curses and praises for him through a haze when her thrusts faltered and she came with a gasp, her knot expanding inside his trembling body.

Boneless and satiated, he let himself drop on the bed, Beverly’s body slumping against him. Their erratic heartbeats and huffing breaths eventually petered out to an even rhythm, but neither of them made to move away. Their sweat-soaked skin sliding against each other had yet to become smothering, and there was something pleasing in being enveloped in an alpha’s warmth like this. Or maybe that was the endorphins talking.

Having sex outside of his heat and her rut meant that they were only tied together by Beverly’s knot for several minutes. He wondered idly what heat sex would feel like with Beverly. Her knot would definitely last longer than this, their biological imperative driving their bodies to encourage a longer tie for insemination to take place. It sounded unromantic as hell, but he remembered enjoying heat sex once—it had been decades ago and he had been adamant over using protection and taking pills—before he opted for suppressants for the rest of his life, only allowing himself to go into heat every few years to avoid heat sickness. Even then, he had used toys and his own hands to satisfy himself while cooped up in his nest for a week at most.

“I can hear you thinking, you know,” Beverly murmured against his throat, her teeth biting into the skin in a playful nip.

Will chuckled, still boneless with pleasure. “Can’t seem to stop.”

Beverly sighed when she finally softened enough to pull away from him. Will could hear a rustle of movements as she untied the condom to throw it away. She hummed when she returned to his side, planting kisses along his spine. “I thought I’d be able to fuck your worries away for sure.”

“Yeah, it might take more than that to do that.”

“Are you saying we should go for another round?”

Will laughed. “Much as I’d love to, I have to get back to my dogs.”

Beverly gave an exaggerated sigh. “Pushed aside in favor of your dogs.”

“You knew this about me when you signed up for… whatever this is.”

She stilled against him. In the next moment, she reached around him to guide him onto his back, her gaze searching as it landed on his face. Will smiled and bared his throat, letting her see just how relaxed and satiated he really was. That brought a smile to her face, her relief clear in the way her shoulders slump in relaxation.

Beverly leaned in to capture his lips, both of them reveling in the languid and sensuous kisses. When she pulled back, she looked down at him with apparent satisfaction at the sight of him.

“I don’t think either of us knows what we signed up for, to be honest,” she said. “As long as we’re not going to regret this. Are you?”

He gave the question its due consideration. Now that they’d both satisfied a craving, so to speak, it was easier to think about what had happened with a clearer head.

Try as he might, he couldn’t find any regret or lingering anxiety as to what this would mean for their relationship. They had been friends for half a year now, and he’d enjoyed her company more than he’d enjoyed anyone else’s. Perhaps this was where it was always heading to, because what happened tonight felt like a natural extension of what their friendship could offer. He definitely wouldn’t be complaining if he’d get regular sex out of it, especially when their first time had been such a pleasurable experience.

“No,” he answered at length, surprising himself at the conviction he felt. “I don’t think I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the change in ratings, and if anyone has a squick with female alphas (and all that that entails, re: alpha genitalias) or would rather just skip the smut, you can stop reading when you see the +++ symbols.


	5. Chapter 5

Life continued much the same after that.

On the surface, nothing changed all that much. They still bickered and sniped at each other whenever they meet for lunch or whenever Jack called for Will’s expertise. Beverly was still the cheerful, no-nonsense colleague who’d rein him (and sometimes Jack) in when Will overworked himself. Though this made her less popular with Jack, she claimed not to mind when the subject came up. It was nice having someone who looked out for him in this sense.

If anyone cared enough to dig beyond the surface, however, the two of them were definitely spending a lot more time together after work. The two of them tried to be discrete with their meet-ups. They took different cars to and from work, even if they spent the night together. They avoided meeting up in public spaces, especially if the joints were popular hangouts for their FBI coworkers. It was one thing to sleep with your colleague; it was another to advertise it. That would open up a can of worms they both weren’t ready for.

In trying to keep their developing relationship discrete, it was inevitable that they had ended up meeting at each other’s places. In fact, since Beverly was more than willing to accommodate his need to get back to his pack, they ended up going to Wolf Trap more often than not. And more often than not, _that_ would lead to more strenuous activities. Not that Will was complaining. Sex was a good stress-reliever now and then, and he and Beverly were stressed than most, which led to mind-blowing sex most of the time. It was a win-win for the two of them, really.

Beverly was now such a frequent visitor at Wolf Trap that the dogs would perk up whenever they sense her presence. Of course, the fact that she always brought dog treats with her only increased her popularity amongst the pack.

After a few months of their relationship continuing in this manner, Beverly had amassed a pile of her knickknacks and clothes at Wolf Trap. The first time he’d realized she’d left a toothbrush at his house, he was more disconcerted at the fact that he _didn_ _’t_ mind the implication behind it. After that, he found more of Beverly’s toiletries in the bathroom and some of her clothes mixed in his laundry. She had even claimed a coffee mug for her own, choosing one from the gag gifts Will received from colleagues and well-meaning friends.

When he brought the subject up, she shrugged. “Just leave them there. It’s more efficient, since I’m always coming and going, anyway,” she said, grinning at him in that sure way of hers.

Will had reddened at the implication. Neither of them said anything when she noticed that he’d allocated a corner of his drawers for her stuff when she stayed over next.

It wasn’t something he wanted to look into at the moment, anyway. As far as he was concerned, the two of them were having fun and expressing their desires in a healthy way as opposed to bonding over a corpse or something. Not that there was anything wrong with the latter, even if society thought otherwise.

For the time being, he was content with how things were. If he were pressed to define their relationship, it would be “friends with benefits”. He didn’t believe in defining his relationships in such restrictive terms, however. Whatever they had right now worked out for them, so neither of them talked in depth about what they were to each other. It was enough that they enjoyed each other’s company.

It also didn’t matter to him what anyone else said about them. Jimmy and Brian had noticed, of course. It was inevitable, considering how often they worked together to solve the cases Jack brought to their doors every other month. Whatever the differences between them, however, Jimmy and Brian said nothing to Will beyond some pointed remarks which were meant to tease instead of hurt.

Even Alana noticed when Jack brought her in for another case a few months after Will and Beverly’s relationship grew into something more. She was more tactful than most, at least, since she waited until Will was alone to approach him at his office.

“You’re looking great, Professor Graham,” she said as she sat down in the chair across from him.

Will gave her a wry smile. “I know I’m in trouble when you begin things with a compliment.”

Alana laughed. “I’m serious, you look like you’re doing great these days.”

Will raised an eyebrow, unimpressed at her hedging. “Really? So you’re only here to tell me I look great?”

Alana huffed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, I’m also here to talk about you and Beverly. Call me out on it, why don’t you?”

Will smirked. “Easy to do that when you’re so obvious. You always avoided being alone with me. So for you to willingly put yourself in the same room with me and no one else? That means you’re coming here for a serious business. What’s up, Alana?”

Alana’s cheeks warmed at his deduction. “I didn’t think you’d noticed that first part.”

“Perks of having an empathy disorder; I get to see more than most.” Will didn’t bother to disguise the sarcasm in his tone. “And the second part?”

“You two are obviously involved,” Alana said, choosing her words carefully, taking care not to sound accusatory. He imagined this is how she talked to a lot of her patients. It dug him a little that even in this, she remained professional to a fault. “It’s your choice and I know you don’t need my advice, but you and I both know how things could turn out if omegas get involved with their alpha handlers. Just… be careful, okay?”

Will shrugged, not seeing the problem. “Office romance happens all the time.”

Alana bit her lip, weighing her words. “I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. It’s just hard to see the boundaries when you’re dating your co-worker is all. And please don’t take this the wrong way but… you’re not exactly the type of guy who dates around.”

“Well… yeah. What’s your point?”

She sighed. “I’m just saying, there will come a day when you have to talk about this… relationship you have with her.”

Will frowned. “Okay. But we’re doing fine right now, so… don’t worry about us.”

Alana was still conflicted, looking as if she had more to say on the subject. She relented after a moment’s reflection. “Well, for what’s it worth, I think you two make a great couple. And I’m glad you have each other to help you through the cases.”

That sounded genuine enough, so Will obliged her with a smile. “Thanks.” After an awkward pause, Will asked, “So how are things with you and your, uh, spouse?”

Alana’s face brightened at the question, but the sound of her phone ringing interrupted her answer. Frowning, she looked down at the display and muttered a curse under her breath. She turned to Will with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I have to take this, and I’m supposed to be on the way to pick up our dog soon, anyway.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a dog.”

Alana noted his interest with a quirk of her lips. “Oh, she’s a recent addition. Her name’s Applesauce.”

“She sounds adorable.”

“She’s super cute. Anyway, promise we can catch up later when the serial killers stopped dropping bodies on the FBI?”

Will snorted. “When pigs fly, maybe. But yeah, we can do that when they take a breather.”

Alana smiled and rose from her seat, answering the phone as she exited his office.

Will thought about the conversation for the next few minutes as he went through the slides for his next class. Alana was right in that Will wasn’t the type for casual flings, but he couldn’t quite label what he had with Beverly either. But it was early days yet to puzzle over where their liaison might be heading. What did it matter what two consensual adults do with their time and bodies, anyway?

He shook off all thoughts of the conversation in the next moment and focused on his work. It wasn’t worth worrying about things that won’t harm him at the moment.

Will’s morning lecture had ended by the time Jack came barging into his lecture hall once more.

His students were well aware of what Jack’s presence meant by now, so they hurried out of the hall without question. Will didn’t miss their curious glances and whispers. Likely they would investigate which killers Jack was bringing to Will’s door as soon as they were out of the lecture hall.

After the fourth time Jack came into his classroom, he had resigned himself to the fact that Jack would reappear every time a killer escalated. He’d kept a close eye on TattleCrime to know when to expect Jack’s visit. This time around, he knew why Jack was calling him in.

Sighing, Will put on his glasses and glanced over at Jack. “What can I do for you now, Jack?”

Jack looked as weary as Will felt. “Eight girls abducted from eight different Minnesota campuses in the last few months.”

“I thought there were seven.”

“We just tagged the last one last night. Elise Nichols was discovered dead in her bedroom after being reported missing for 48 hours. We can’t wait for the next body to drop; I’m bringing you in.”

Will sighed. Jack always used the same excuse to appeal to Will’s compassion or sense of justice every time he wanted Will on board. And as always, it worked. “I guess we’re going to your office, then.”

There was already someone else in Jack’s office when they entered. Will frowned when he saw it wasn’t Beverly.

Seeing Will’s frown, Jack gestured to the empty seat across his desk while he took his seat. “Beverly and the rest of the team are in Duluth processing the Nichols’ house for a final sweep.” He nodded to the man in front of him. “This is Dr. Hannibal Lecter.”

Will’s frown grew heavier when the man turned in his seat to smile at him.

“Hello,” Lecter said.

Will didn’t move from where he was standing, lips pressed in a thin line. Even at a glance, he knew without being told that Lecter was an alpha. There was something in his demeanor—his posture, the aura he emanated, the confidence and assurance that showed he was used to people capitulating to his persuasive demands—that screamed alpha, even with suppressants.

He felt pinned by the man’s gaze. Somehow, he couldn’t shake the thought of there being a predator in the room.

A heavy sigh. “Will, sit down.”

The spell was broken by Jack’s stern tone, and Will scowled at him before sitting down with an inelegant huff. He ignored the other alpha, ignored Lecter’s gaze burning into him. “You didn’t tell me there’d be another handler.”

Jack looked worn out, staring at Will with the simmering resentment that emerged every time Will challenged his authority. “Would you like a formal introduction?”

Will shook his head stiffly, ignoring the sarcasm in Jack’s voice. “No. Let’s get on with it. What do you have so far?”

Jack heaved another sigh and knocked on the pictures scattered across a map on his desk. “These are all the girls we have so far and their last known locations. The latest is Elise Nichols at St. Cloud State of Mississippi. Her parents realized she was missing when she didn’t come home last Friday. Same MO for the others—all of them abducted on a Friday so they don’t get reported missing until Monday.”

Will stared at the photos, mapping the lines of their profiles and wind-chafed skin, noting their similarities and disparities, finding more of the first than the latter. “They’re all very Mall of America.” He shifted the photos to study the pins on the maps. “You’re calling them abductions because there are no bodies?”

“Nobodies,” Jack said. “No parts related to bodies, nothing that comes out of bodies.”

“All the girls are dead, then,” Will said, his voice flat even as his heart sank at the thought. “The killer’s not keeping them around. Got himself a new one every few weeks.”

“Right. What is it about the girls?”

Will hummed, distracted by the photos once more. “He’s taking them based on their appearances. Shadowed them for a couple of weeks before abducting them, judging by the timing of their abductions. Made note of their schedules. They’re all a mixed bag of alphas, betas, and omegas?”

“Yes. No patterns to that as far as we can tell.”

“It’s not about their dynamics,” Will agreed. “And it’s not about these girls. It’s about one of them.”

He could hear the disbelief pouring out of Jack. “You think he’s sifting through these girls to find his Golden Ticket for some kind of fucked-up Chocolate Factory?”

Will made a disgruntled noise. “Something like that. He would hide how special she is.” He frowned. “But he returned Elise Nichols’ body.”

“Is she his Golden Ticket, then?”

Will shook his head, brow furrowed in concentration. He studied the photo of Nichols laying in her childhood bedroom as if in repose. The gored wounds that were visible through her dress caught his attention. “How did she die?”

“Strangulation and suffocation. Ribs were broken.”

“Hmm. Was there, uh, anything in the punctured wounds?”

Jack’s frown was audible. “Funny you should say that. Beverly mentioned she found antler velvets in them.”

Will let out a sharp exhale. “Antler velvet is rich in nutrients. Promotes healing. He may have put it there on purpose.”

Lecter, who had been suspiciously quiet up until this point, spoke up. “And why would he do that?”

Lecter’s accent startled Will out of his musings. He frowned at the odd, smooth lilt of the alpha’s tone, chancing a glance at the man who was studying him in turn. The way he was dressed spoke of his fastidiousness. There was a heavy weight to his words and tone, which translated into the way he carried himself. Despite his unassuming appearance, there was a refined persona that the alpha couldn’t quite hide.

 _Here_ _’s an odd one,_ Will’s instincts screamed.

Ignoring the unease settling into him, Will turned his gaze back to the pictures. “He was trying to undo as much as he could, given he already killed her. Whatever he did to the others, he couldn’t do it to her.”

“So she _is_ the Golden Ticket,” Jack said.

Will shook his head. “No. This is an apology.”

“An apology.” Jack’s tone was flat, and he stared at Will for a moment before sighing. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s he apologizing for?”

Will squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing his hand over his face to get rid of his burgeoning headache. “He… he feels bad he couldn’t honor her. He couldn’t show her he loved her, so he put her corpse back in her bed.”

“Couldn’t honor—” Jack let out a curse. “You’re saying he loves these girls? There was no semen at the crime scene; Elise Nichols died a virgin.”

Will kept his face in his hands. The afterimages of the girls and Elise Nichol’s corpse appeared behind his shut eyes. “That’s not how he’s loving them. He doesn’t want these girls to suffer, so he kills them quickly. Probably thinks it’s mercy. That’s all I can tell you right now, Jack.”

Jack let out a heavy sigh, sounding disgruntled. “Fine. Forensics are coming back for autopsy later this evening. I want you to be there. Dr. Lecter, please consider the invitation extended to you as well.”

Will snorted, the sound muffled by his hands. Of course Jack would order an omega to be there while he’d “extend an invitation” to a fellow alpha. Of fucking course.

“Are you alright, Will?” Lecter sounded concerned.

Will shook himself out of his pose, only now realizing what it would look like. Too late, however. Lecter was looking at him as if he was every bit the unstable omega others often claimed he was. He avoided Lecter’s probing gaze and shook his head. “No, just need an aspirin. Are we done here, Jack?”

“Not fond of eye contact, are you?”

Will stiffened at the words. He glowered at Lecter, taking care to avoid meeting the alpha’s eyes. “Eyes are distracting,” he said, not bothering to hide the bitterness in his tone. “You see too much, you don’t see enough. And it’s hard to focus when you can see the derision they have for daring to be born as the lesser dynamics into this world and daring to work in this field.”

“Will,” came Jack’s warning, which went ignored by the two of them.

Lecter was actually fucking _smiling_ at him. “I imagine what you see and learn touches everything else in your mind. Your values and decency are present yet shocked at your associations, appalled at your dreams.”

Anger rose in Will at those words. With Beverly otherwise occupied, he thought Jack had brought this new alpha in as his temporary handler; someone to oversee the proceedings. Now, he had a creeping suspicion that Lecter was here for more than that. Ignoring Lecter, he turned to Jack with a growl. “Whose profile is he working on?”

Jack opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Lecter.

“I’m sorry, Will, observing is what we do,” Lecter said, placating. “I can’t shut mine off any more than you can shut yours off.”

Will growled at Jack again. “You brought in a fucking _psychiatrist?_ ” Without waiting for Jack’s answer, he grabbed his satchel and rose from his seat, glaring at Lecter’s patterned tie. “Please don’t psychoanalyze me. You won’t like me when I’m psychoanalyzed. Now excuse me while I go teach a class about psychoanalyzing serial killers.”

He left the room without a backward glance.

His sour mood persisted throughout the day, compounded by the fact that he was expected to be at the BAU laboratory later.

Beverly’s presence at the laboratory was a soothing balm, at least. She looked like she hadn’t slept for twenty-four hours when he saw her, which was likely the case considering she had been processing the crime scene since last night and was now back in the BAU performing an autopsy on Nichols’ body.

If it wasn’t for his common sense and the need to maintain appearances, he would’ve gravitated to her side the moment he’d arrived at the laboratory. Jack and Lecter were already there with Beverly, Jimmy, and Brian by the time he’d gotten there, however, so he avoided everyone’s gazes and stared at the examination table instead. Elise Nichol’s body lay inside the body bag in the center of the table.

“Will,” Jack said as he came in. “Glad you could make it.”

Will grunted something that could be construed as assent. With the pleasantries out of the way, the forensics team continued their examination. Jack frowned throughout the whole thing while Lecter held back from commenting. Lecter was standing a few paces back from the rest of them, his vantage point giving him an unobstructed view of everyone in the room. An ingrained behavior for most alphas, but Will couldn’t help thinking it was a strategic and deliberate choice for Lecter.

For his part, Will stood against a wall at the other corner of the room, trying to make himself unobtrusive while the experts do their job. He listened as Beverly, Jimmy and Brian talked. His pounding headache hasn’t completely left from earlier this morning.

“So other injuries were probably but not conclusively postmortem. She wasn’t gored,” Brian was saying to Beverly, pointing to the puncture wounds on Nichol’s body.

Beverly huffed. “She has lots of piercings that _look_ like they were caused by deer antlers. I didn’t say the deer was responsible for the wounds.”

Will’s mind sifted through the photos he’d seen of the crime scene, his eyes scanning Nichol’s blue-tinted skin. “She was mounted on them. She may have been bled dry elsewhere.”

“Possibly,” Jimmy said. “There was only a small trace of blood on her bedsheets, so whatever he did to her was done elsewhere.”

Brian poked gloved fingers inside Nichol’s torso, peeking inside the cavity. “Huh. Her liver was removed. He took it out and put it back in. Weird.”

Will went slack-jawed at that, the synapses sparking inside him and goading him into a realization. “Something was wrong with the meat.”

Everyone’s gazes turned towards him at those muttered words. Jack and Lecter looked intrigued, while Jimmy and Beverly were looking at him with raised eyebrows.

Brian, brow still furrowed in disbelief, stared at Will. “She has liver cancer. How did you—”

Will sighed and let his head drop against the wall behind him. He fought to control the bile in his throat. “He’s eating them.”

As expected, his pronouncement was met with baffled silence, though the expressions on everyone’s faces spoke for themselves.

Jimmy and Beverly’s faces were etched with shock, while Brian looked disgusted at the insinuation as he stared at Nichol’s liver nestled inside her body. Jack was staring at him with a mixture of resignation and disbelief; a look so familiar that Will barely resisted rolling his eyes at it. He had a feeling that Jack would ask him to explain his deduction until he was satisfied.

Lecter’s reaction was the oddest one out of them, however. Will noted with a cursory glance that the alpha was staring at him with a placid expression, his body neither rigid nor relaxed. His reaction was a non-reaction, designed to give away nothing. It was a curious thing, that.

He couldn’t give further attention to that since Jack, as expected, told him to explain his reasoning with a tone that brooked no arguments.

Sighing, Will did exactly that. He gave Jack a brief profile on the killer before leaving Quantico half an hour later, citing his worsening headache as an excuse. Most of them were still looking at him with varying opinions written on their faces, but he couldn’t care less what they thought of his conclusion, not after the day he’s had. Jack could either take his opinion or leave it.

Unsurprisingly, Beverly caught up with him while he was leaving.

He frowned when he saw her figure walking towards his car just as he was pulling away.

She grinned when he rolled down the windows. “Going somewhere?”

Will rolled his eyes. “Home, as you well know.”

“Can I come with?”

“Jack letting you leave?”

Beverly snorted. “He’s not my mom, may she rest in peace. Plus, we’ve gotten all we could from the autopsy today. So, can I come with?”

Will shrugged and unlocked his car door. They were used to this semi-routine of theirs by now, though Will took care to glance around to make sure no one saw them as Beverly let herself inside his beat-up Volvo. It was close to 9 PM, so the driveway leading up to Quantico’s entrance was empty for now.

Beverly yawned and buckled her seatbelt. “You okay if I sleep while you drive? I’m exhausted.”

“Be my guest.” Will smiled when he saw Beverly making herself comfortable, adjusting the seat until she could lie at a better angle for sleeping. “You really don’t waste your time, huh?”

“I haven’t slept properly once Nichols’ body dropped. If I didn’t have a ride, I would’ve just slept in the lab, and no one wants that.” She yawned again. “You okay to drive?”

“Yeah, just a little headache.” Off her concerned look, he shrugged. “I took some aspirins. It’ll be fine.”

Beverly sighed and closed her eyes. “We’ll talk about this later when I’m less groggy.”

He rolled his eyes at that, knowing that Beverly would make good on her threat tomorrow. Will put his car in drive mode again, but before he pulled away, something caught his attention—a shadowed figure making itself known through his peripheral vision. A turn of his head revealed the figure as Lecter, who was walking down the stairs leading to the academy entrance when he saw Will’s car.

Their gazes met. From the distance, Will could only make out the roughest of surprise in the alpha’s expression. In the next second, Lecter’s eyes were drawn towards Beverly, who was already dozing in the passenger seat. His gaze turned from surprised to assessing, a small smile curling on his lips as he returned to meet Will’s eyes, looking pleased with what he saw.

_What a weirdo._

Will rolled his eyes in parting and drove away.

When Will woke up the next day, it was to the feeling of Beverly pressed behind him, her even breathing stirring the hair at the back of his neck. It was six in the morning, but he felt wide awake and rested. It was an odd feeling, to wake up with little to no memories of his dreams or nightmares and feel the press of a warm body against him instead. He’d gotten used to it after the last few months, but it was still a novelty.

He stirred, sighing when he felt rather than see his arousal. So that’s what had woken him up.

Beverly was still sleeping soundly, her soft snores sounding loud in the relative silence of his bedroom. Her arm, which was draped around his waist, twitched for a second before stilling again. For a moment, he thought of leaving her for the bathroom to take care of things. Another part of him—a more playful and less shy part of him—told him to grind back against Beverly. Will bit his lip and tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail.

Sighing, he decided to get out of bed. No sense in waking Beverly up for something he could take care of himself. Before he could move away, however, Beverly jerked awake, her arm tightening around him.

“Where you going?” she asked, her voice still slurred with sleep.

“Bathroom.”

“Hmm, because of this?” Beverly asked, the arm draped around him straying lower to cup his half-hard cock.

Will huffed, though he leaned into the touch. “I thought you were asleep.”

She hummed and moved closer to him, her hand tightening around his cock as she stroked him in a languid movement. “I was. I can smell you. Woke me up.”

He moaned when the strokes turned from teasing to perfect, the length of her body pressed against his. She wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t her pleasure she was focusing on. It didn’t take long for him to reach his climax with a soft cry, his come dribbling over Beverly’s hand. She continued to stroke him until he hissed from the oversensitivity.

Pressing a soft kiss against his shoulder, Beverly wiped her hand with tissues before throwing them away. She sidled next to him and rested her face in the crook of Will’s neck, inhaling his scent with an appreciative sound.

“Better?” she asked, sounding groggy still.

His heart was still hammering fast from his orgasm, his eyelids already falling closed as he came down from his high. “Yeah.”

“Mmkay. Wake me up when we need to leave.”

Will looked at the clock again. They had less than an hour to sleep in. He slid himself backward until Beverly was wrapped around him once more before he went back to sleep, satiated and content.

Will had forgotten all about Lecter until Beverly brought him up on the way to work.

He was driving them to Quantico as they ate their breakfast—sandwiches, donuts, and coffee they’d bought at a drive-through—knowing that Jack would be on them as soon as they get to the academy. After a good night’s sleep and a pleasant wake-up call, he felt well-rested and ready to face Jack head-on until Beverly spoke.

“So what’s the deal with the alpha Jack brought in?”

Will grunted around his mouthful of a donut, keeping his eye on the road.

“Not a fan, huh?”

He gave her a faint raise of his eyebrow, still chewing.

Beverly smirked. “Yeah, I can tell.”

He chased down the rest of his donut with coffee before he answered. “What did you make of him?”

“He seems okay, though I’m surprised that Jack brought him on without discussing it with either of us. Guessing he _didn_ _’t_ discuss it with you, first?”

Will snorted. “Nope. Didn’t even tell me the guy was going to be there until I was at his office.”

She sighed. “Yeah, that sounds like Jack alright. Not that I can say anything if he brings another alpha on, of course.”

That left a bitter taste in his mouth. As far as stupid rules went, the FBI’s strict regulations on omegas working as a field agent would definitely take the cake.

Most of the other industries had recruited omegas (mated or not) with alacrity once the more archaic laws had been repealed. Labor force was labor force, after all. Not so with government agencies, however, and definitely not so with law enforcement agencies. The FBI in particular had strict rules and regulations that required unmated omegas to have a handler if they were to become a field agent. Mated omegas had to bring their mates to swear in and sign a paper absolving the FBI of any blame if omegas were hurt in the line of duty, with a hefty payout promised for the omega’s mate in the event of said omega’s demise.

It was never a problem for Will before this since he’d stuck to giving lectures to FBI trainees, and he’d been happy enough to conduct postmortem lessons on the serial killers instead of being tasked to catch them. That changed when Jack had dragged Will into becoming a special agent, which necessitated Will having an alpha handler since he was unmated. Never mind that alpha handlers could be a hindrance more often than not; there had been documented cases where alpha handlers proved to be an unnecessary expense, but of course most people turned a blind eye to it.

Since he wasn’t mated, Jack had the authority as the Head of the BAU to call in handlers in his stead if he thought Will would need it. He didn’t mind having Beverly as one. He did mind that Jack brought in a freaking _psychiatrist_ to be his handler, even if it was temporary.

“So I take it you didn’t like him, judging by your glare right now?” Beverly laughed.

Will’s scowl deepened. “He’s a psychiatrist. Enough said.”

“So it wasn’t because he was an alpha. It’s because he’s a psychiatrist?”

Will scoffed. “I don’t hate people because they’re alphas. I hate people because they’re assholes. It’s why some people hate me too, and I’m fine with that.”

Beverly grinned. “Gotcha.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I hate it when people are trying to climb inside my head. It’s bad enough that I’m in there.”

“Hey, no, we’re not doing that right now. I happen to love your head, weirdness and all.”

“Yeah, but that’s because you’re weird, too, by extension. I’m not exactly a glowing endorsement of your taste, Bev.”

“Oh, shut up, you love my taste.” She looked at him askance. “Now I get why you seemed to hate him on sight.”

Will grimaced. “Was it that obvious?”

“I can tell you were trying _not_ to glare at him when you came into the lab yesterday, which was a giveaway. As far as psychiatrists go, he doesn’t seem too bad.”

“Not to you, maybe. You’re not the one with the extra mirror neurons.”

“Okay, okay, fair point. He was asking me about you yesterday, actually.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah. I guess it’s because Jack told him I’m your handler. We talked for a bit before you got there after Jack made introductions.”

“What did you tell him about me?”

“I told him to direct questions about you to _you._ That I don’t speak for you and vice versa.”

A smile tugged at his lips, unbidden, and he let it widen.

Beverly scoffed at it. “You know me better than that, Graham.”

He shrugged, unapologetic. He’d been let down by others before. It warmed him to know that Beverly had his back in this, at least. He licked his lips then, the aftertaste of coffee bitter on his tongue. “Did he seem a bit… odd to you?”

“Hmm? Odd, how?”

“Just…” Will sighed. “He saw us last night when we were driving away.”

“Okay, so? Nothing wrong with me hitching a ride with a friend, right?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he figured out we’re more than friends.”

Beverly shrugged, looking unconcerned. “What’s he gonna do about it, tattle to Jack? There are no rules saying we can’t be involved.”

“While that may be true, Jack might think otherwise. If he thinks, uh, whatever we have here is interfering with our work, he’ll pull you out, and you know it. And as the head of the BAU, he’d have every right to do that.”

There was a long silence then, both of them digesting the truth behind Will’s words. They had been careful to ensure that the quality of their work didn’t suffer to avoid other people digging into their business. Beverly was right in that whatever they did together out of office hours was their business and no one else’s. But Jack would definitely be unhappy if Will’s current perfect closure rates were to suffer, and he wouldn’t hesitate to cut it at the source if that was what it would take.

“Well,” Beverly said after a long silence. “We just have to make sure it doesn’t get to that point, then. Nothing Jack can say if he sees we’re not emotionally compromised, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes Hannibal, being his usual creepy self and weirding Will out from the get-go. He's gonna have his work cut out for him, with Beverly in the picture :D


	6. Chapter 6

A knock on the door startled Will out of his sleep.

The clock on his bedside told him it was close to eight in the morning. Rubbing his eyes, he sighed when there was another insistent knock on the door. It was probably Jack, waking him up to let him know they were due to leave soon.

He squinted against the sliver of sunlight intruding into the room when he opened the door to his motel room. He opened his mouth to tell Jack he was awake—

—and shut his mouth again when he saw Hannibal Lecter standing in front of him with a bag in his hand.

“Good morning, Will,” Lecter said, a small smile on his face as he watched Will rub the sleep out of his eyes. 

Will scowled. “Where’s Crawford?”

“Deposed in court, as is Miss Katz.”

 _Well, shit._ Dread filled him at the thought of what that insinuated. Jack had told him a few days earlier that he was taking Will out to Minnesota in order for them to follow a lead the forensics team had found. He didn’t say anything about leaving Will alone with Lecter. 

Lecter continued, confirming Will’s worst nightmare: “The adventure will be yours and mine today. May I come in?”

Seeing no other choice, Will let the alpha in with a sigh, closing the door and frowning when he scented the smell wafting from Lecter’s bag. “You brought breakfast or something?”

Lecter set his bag on the small dining table near the windows, giving Will another small smile. “I did. I thought we could use a hearty breakfast before we start our investigation today. Shall I set the table?”

 _We._ Presumptuous. Will snorted, uncaring if he appeared rude. “Be my guest. I’m gonna go get ready.”

Will left him in the middle of the room so that he could make his escape and shower, bringing his clothes with him to the bathroom. No way in hell was he going to have breakfast with Lecter with only his t-shirt and boxers on. He didn’t miss the way Lecter’s eyes swept over him when he’d opened the door earlier, probably judging him for the impropriety.

There was nothing to indicate that Lecter was looking at him with desire, however, so the alpha had that going for him. Instead, the alpha looked at him as if he was a puzzle piece, wondering which corner he would fit into. So pretty much on par with what Will expected from a psychiatrist. It was just his luck that he would be stuck with Lecter for the entire day with no buffer between them.

By the time he emerged from the bathroom, Lecter was seated at the dining table and the room smelled of coffee and the scent of seasoned eggs and meat. Lecter had set the table for the two of them, using the containers and cups he’d brought with him. Just from a glance, Will could tell the ceramic containers and utensils the man had brought were well made and of fine quality. An alpha with a discerning taste, then.

Will let his glance sweep over the doctor, then. He’d worn something in neutral hues today, just like when they had first met, but the material and cut of the cloth looked much more expensive than he’d given them credit for initially. So. An alpha with a discerning taste _and_ a robust bank account.

“I didn’t think you were literally going to set the table,” Will said, lowering himself into the seat across from Lecter.

Lecter’s trademark smile was back. “I assure you, whatever I say, I meant them wholeheartedly.”

Will snorted. From the way he spoke and behaved, Lecter gave the appearance of someone who was part nobility, or at the very least as if he belonged to the highest echelon in the upper society. Even the heavy ceramic containers that housed their breakfast looked cultivated. He watched the alpha picking up his utensils before he stopped and stared at Will. Urging Will to do the same.

Will rolled his eyes and dug into his meal. After all, the alpha had gone through so much trouble to bring him breakfast. Who was he to turn down free food? The scrambled eggs and sausages smelled delicious, at least.

He was surprised by the burst of flavors when he took a mouthful of the scrambled eggs and meat. An appreciative moan escaped him at the taste, and he could feel his ears reddening with embarrassment at the unintended noise. Clearing his throat, he chanced a glance at Lecter. The alpha’s smile had widened at Will’s silent compliment.

“This is delicious,” Will said, turning his gaze back to his meal.

“Thank you. I’m very careful of what I put inside my body, so I always try to prepare my meals myself.”

Will wrinkled his nose. “The motel let you use their kitchen or something?”

“I’m staying at a nearby hotel.”

Will shoved another sausage into his mouth to conceal his smile. A more acceptable five-stars accommodation, then. “Well, it’s really good. Thank you.”

Lecter accepted the compliment with a wide smile, and they concentrated on their meal for the next few minutes. The silence was more bearable compared to Lecter’s gaze on him, fleeting yet heavy in its weight. His interest in Will was palpable, and Will waited to see who would break the silence first. There were only a few bites left to his breakfast when Lecter spoke next.

“I would apologize for the analytical ambush that was our first meeting, but I fear I would be apologizing again and so I shall have to use my apologies sparingly.”

Will snorted at the non-apology. He shoved another mouthful of eggs into his mouth. “Just keep it professional.”

“Like you and Miss Katz, you mean?”

Will paused at that, his shoulders growing rigid at the insinuation. His eyes flickered to meet Lecter’s. The alpha wasn’t smiling as he met Will’s gaze head-on, and there was nothing in his eyes that could betray what he was thinking.

Will swallowed around his mouthful and leaned back in his seat as he took a languid sip of the excellent coffee Lecter had brought. The rich roast was something one would taste at a posh, no doubt luxurious cafe in Europe, the smell as invigorating as it tasted. He savored the bitter flavor before he trained his eyes on Lecter again. “You saw us together that night.”

“I did.” The bald statement was delivered with a calm gravitas. Waiting for Will’s reaction to set the next course of action.

Will smiled, feigning an ease he didn’t feel. “Congratulations, you’ve solved the mystery of what, or who, I do in my pastime.”

Lecter’s brow raised, the movement almost imperceptible if Will wasn’t paying close attention to his reaction. From the way he smiled in the next second, it looked as if he was recalculating his assessment of Will. “Of course, it’s not my business what goes on in your private life.”

“And yet you brought it up, anyway. Curious as to why I’m mixing pleasure with my business, Dr. Lecter?”

A crease appeared in Lecter’s brow. “I see now that I must use another one of my spared apologies. I never meant to insinuate anything, Will, merely… surprised at your association with Miss Katz.” He tilted his head, looking unrepentant even after being called out on his behavior. “I didn’t think you were the type to form dalliances at a workplace.”

Snorting, Will took another drink of his coffee. “You’re so sure that you’ve got a handle on me after having met me for a few hours?”

“Far be it for me to suggest that you are so easily figured out.”

“Hmm. I can see the wheels turning in your head, doctor. Having fun trying to psychoanalyze me?”

“Would it offend you if I say yes?”

Will shrugged. “What’s one more offense on top of the others?”

Lecter smiled. “Then, yes. You’re a fascinating study.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to getting away with your psychoanalysis exercise. You’re lucky you’ve plied me with good food and coffee before you started. I would’ve thrown others out for lesser offense.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“It’s Dr. Katz, by the way.” Will smiled at the faint rise of Lecter’s brow. “It’s not Miss Katz, it’s Dr. Katz.”

“Ah. Yet another apology to be spared for Dr. Katz, then.”

Will smirked. “Better not mess it up further or we’re really going to have trouble interacting later.” Which reminded him he was going to spend an entire day with Lecter, given how this sort of field investigation usually went. Well, at least they won’t run out of things to talk about, even if Lecter continued to accrue missteps like they’re going out of fashion.

Lecter gave him an enigmatic smile. “Jack told me you have a knack for the monsters,” he said, changing the subject.

Will narrowed his eyes. The familiarity with which Lecter used Jack’s name niggled at him; old friends, maybe? Or acquaintances who get along really well. “You’ve been talking about me to everyone I know?”

Predictably, Lecter remained unrepentant at his trespasses. “Only with a select few of them. Jack approached me when I was recommended. I’ve also asked Alana about you.”

Will scowled at that. Was Lecter on a first-name basis with everyone Will knew? And if so, what did that mean for him? Did Jack and Alana tell the psychiatrist all there was to know about him?

Seeing his obvious concern, Lecter pressed on, his tone aiming to placate. “Not to worry. Alana is not the type to gossip. She’s very protective of you. I would usually prefer to talk to you one-on-one in a more official setting instead of asking your friends and colleagues about you. But I don’t think you’re very receptive to that sort of session.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Is that supposed to justify you going behind my back and asking around about me?”

“Whatever Jack had told me about you was voluntarily given, as he was the one who came to me to seek my services,” Lecter explained, pouring more coffee for himself. “I tried to approach Dr. Katz about you, but I suspect she’s told you how that went.”

“Yeah, she did.” His fondness for Beverly swelled at the thought.

“And as for Alana, the subject of you has come up between us from time to time. I didn’t intentionally seek more information about you, but the subject rose nonetheless.”

Will frowned and considered Lecter for a long moment. Jack and Lecter’s friendship he could understand, from the alpha males’ point of view. Jack would love someone like Lecter who could keep his omega profiler in line. He’d also appreciate someone as poised as Lecter to cow everyone else around them, impressed by Lecter’s cultivated persona.

Lecter’s relationship with Alana was a bit more opaque. Will allowed himself another assessing glance, noting Lecter’s amusement at the scrutiny. His eyes landed on the silver band on Lecter’s left hand. A wedding ring. He was reminded, then, of the time Alana had mentioned Lecter once before this when the two of them had worked on the last case.

 _Ah._ The lightbulb in his head clicked on. So Hannibal Lecter was Alana’s wealthy alpha husband.

That would explain a lot of things. Will could forgive Alana the trespass of mentioning him to Lecter seeing they’re spouses, though he would appreciate being left alone instead. He wondered what it was about him that drove others to talk of him as if he was an interesting case study instead of a human being?

“Well. I hope whatever she said about me was all good things,” Will said.

Lecter smiled. “She admires you and your deduction skills. She’d always spoken of it as if you plucked them out of thin air.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I get that a lot. It’s like I’m a party trick people pull out as a finale when things are winding down, just so the guests could be impressed and leave with a favorable impression.”

“I can imagine how frustrating that would be. I understand that’s what makes you such an excellent tool, or at least that was what Jack implied.” Lecter leaned forward then, placing his arms on the table, his gaze turning intense in a split second. “What did you think of the girl impaled on the antlers?”

Will could have snorted at Lecter’s apparent interest in his answer. So this was what the alpha had been driving towards all along. Just like the rest of them, he wanted to see Will perform his party trick. Well. This was easier to talk about, at least.

He leaned forward as well, matching the alpha’s intense gaze with one of his own. “I don’t think the Minnesota Shrike killed that girl in the field.”

It probably said something about him that he was more comfortable discussing the changed subject than being needled about his personal life. Lecter looked impassioned at Will’s deduction that Cassie Boyle’s impaled body was meant to be a mockery to the FBI, to the Shrike; a way to show Will that what the Shrike did wasn’t the height of elegance.

“That crime scene was practically gift-wrapped,” Will concluded.

Another small upward curl of the alpha’s lips, then. “For the FBI? Or for you?”

Will shrugged. “Either, both, I don’t know. What I do know is that the copycat’s staging of the body was meant to indicate he was superior.”

There was something unsettling in the way Lecter’s expression flickered from one emotion to another, too fast for Will to make out. He was used to gleaning too much information from people; it was both a relief and unsettling that he couldn’t pinpoint Lecter’s emotion at any given moment.

Just like Lecter was studying him, Will found himself studying Lecter as well. He wasn’t sure whether intrigue will win out over the odd instincts he had about the alpha, but he filed away the thought for later.

Once they’d finished with breakfast, they made their way to the first few construction sites around the area based on Beverly’s lead on the piece of metal that had fallen from Nichol’s dress.

Despite the mundaneness of it all, Will preferred investigation duty to his typical routine of preparing lesson plans for his trainees. As much as he enjoyed teaching, active investigation work was something he could appreciate. Sure, sifting through records and evidence and interviewing people was mind-numbingly boring when you’d done it for weeks on end, but Will was good at picking up patterns from the evidence.

This, in part, was why he had agreed to Jack’s request to become a special agent for the BAU, aside from the added satisfaction at the thought that omegas wouldn’t usually get a glimpse into what went on behind closed doors at the BAU. While looking into the mind of the killers itself might be detrimental to his psyche, it was nothing compared to the high of catching them, knowing that he was the one who’d brought them to face justice. That was also why he continued to say yes to Jack.

It took them more than an hour to interview and sift through the HR records at each construction site, looking for clues that might lead them to their mark. It was tedious work, but Lecter also seemed to enjoy the menial tasks as they questioned one HR personnel to another in their search for the Shrike. As such, he had expected the dullness of the routine.

What he hadn’t expected out of their field investigation, however, was this:

Picking out Garrett Jacob Hobbs’s name from a pile of records and noting the fact that the man didn’t leave an address on record. Going out to Hobbs’s house on a wild hunch a mere thirty minutes later only to find out that things were already going from bad to worse in the household. Finding the carnage Hobbs had left behind as if everything was in slow motion. Seeing Louise Hobbs’ eyes opened with shock in death, blood still pouring out of her slit throat onto the porch of her idyllic home. Barging into the kitchen to find Hobbs restraining his daughter— _wind-chafed skin, brown hair, wide blue eyes looking at him with shock and fear_ —before he slit her throat in front of Will. Evading Hobbs’ attack as the beta came at Will with a knife, only to turn around and see Hobbs charging towards Lecter to escape from the house.

Will couldn’t think straight, didn’t even think about pulling his gun out of its holster as he charged towards Hobbs, colliding into the man’s back. They crashed onto the kitchen floor, the surface slippery with blood, narrowly missing Lecter as the alpha stepped aside hastily. Will ignored Lecter and hoped the alpha had enough sense to call for backup and stay out of the scuffle since he was a civilian who wasn’t trained to handle this type of escalation. (In the back of his mind, Will knew that he himself was ill-equipped to handle such confrontations, but needs trump must.)

In the ensuing struggle, Will wrestled the knife out of Hobbs’ hand at the expense of a deep stab to his left shoulder. He hissed in pain when the blade had plunged through the layers of skin, but he ignored the pain. There was only one thing on his mind: He needed to stop Hobbs.

Once the blade was out of Hobbs’ hand, Will knew he had to act fast to subdue the beta, especially when he managed to straddle the beta in a chokehold. Mustering all the strength he had, Will recalled his Pa’s advice in his panicked state and pulled back his hand in a fist, launching it straight into Hobbs’ face several times until the beta groaned, begging for him to stop.

Trembling with adrenaline, Will fumbled with the gun in his holster and directed it towards Hobbs’ forehead, glaring at the beta. “Garrett Jacob Hobbs, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court.” He growled when it looked like Hobbs was trying to fight him off, the beta’s eyes darting back and forth between Will and the other side of the kitchen. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Still keeping his eye on Hobbs, Will barked Lecter’s name. The alpha appeared at his side, staying in Will’s periphery to avoid interfering with the arrest.

“Did you call for backup?” Will asked, the blood still rushing in his ears. He was alarmed to find that Hobbs’ face was becoming blurry.

“I did, they’re on their way.” Lecter’s voice was tinted with urgency. “Will, you’re bleeding and losing a lot of blood from your shoulder—”

Oh, that explained the woozy feeling.

“Yes, it does, please hold on for a few more minutes, and focus on my voice.”

Will frowned. He didn’t realize he’d said that out loud. He stared at Hobbs, the beta’s nose bleeding profusely.

Hobbs wasn’t paying any attention to Will anymore. He was looking to the other side of the kitchen with part resignation and part regret. “Abby… I’m sorry,” the beta murmured, his voice trembling with emotion.

Will didn’t have to turn his head to know that Hobbs was looking at his daughter who was bleeding out on the kitchen floor. Will had been too late to the scene; the daughter was beyond saving now because he didn’t act fast enough. _Shit. A kid died under my watch._ The corner of Will’s eyes prickled at the realization, sweat pouring from down his face in rivulets.

“Will, the police are coming. Stay with me.”

Will grunted and tried to focus, tried to blink the sweat out of his eye.

God, his shoulder felt mangled. He’d be paying for that soon. He suspected the adrenaline was the only thing keeping him upright at the moment. The smell of fear, anxiety, and blood—his, Hobbs’, Abby’s blood—filled the air, and his own labored breathing sounded more ragged as the minutes ticked on. Lecter was mumbling something at his side, but Will could barely make out what the alpha was saying. The words sounded muffled and foreign as if they were underwater.

In the distance, he could finally hear sirens as the police cars finally pulled up to the house. Then, the sounds of several officers entering the house, their voices and the chorus of stampeding feet a cacophony of noises Will could no longer focus on.

The last thing Will saw before the world turned black was Hobbs’s tear-stained face as the beta cried for his daughter.

Will woke to the sound of beeping machines and the smell of antiseptic enveloping everything around him.

As if he was emerging out of the waters, the sounds and sensations returned in a rush as he regained consciousness. The beeping of the machines took on a more insistent sound when he came awake, and he could feel his limbs jerking as if trying to come back to life after a long stupor. Beside him, there was a rustle of sounds and shifting movements before the scent of a familiar alpha filled his senses.

Then, a warm hand on his forehead and chest, a soothing voice murmuring placating words, and the presence of someone he had grown attached to. He leaned into the touch, trying to listen to the soft order and regulate his breathing. A long moment passed until Will calmed down enough to open his eyes to the sight of Beverly leaning over him.

Beverly let out a sigh of relief when Will tried to croak out her name, and her face broke into a gentle smile. “Hey, don’t talk right now. Can you hear me? Blink twice if you can.” She waited for his response. “Okay, great. Hold on, let me get you some water.”

A few more minutes passed with Beverly helping him with his drink and checking if he was all right with a lingering glance. The water soothed his parched throat, though he still felt disorientated. From what he could make out, he was in a hospital room. The windows on the other side of the room told him it was late in the morning or early in the afternoon, the browning leaves outside falling intermittently as Will stared at them.

Beverly was sitting at his bedside, watching him closely. “You okay? You’re feeling nauseous? Or like you have a concussion?”

The disorientation was lessening somewhat, so he shook his head. The movement called to attention a twinge of pain on his right shoulder, however, and he moved his head a few inches to see that his shoulder was wrapped in layers of bandage.

Memories of what happened at Garrett Jacob Hobbs’s house came rushing back, and his eyes widened in alarm as he turned to Beverly. “Hobbs?” he rasped, his vocals sounding hoarse from disuse. 

Beverly sighed, looking fond and exasperated. “I’ll answer you, I just need to let the nurse know you’re awake. Can I call the nurse in?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded. He closed his eyes while Beverly pressed a button near the bed and moved around the room to take care of several things. Her shuffling movements were reassuring even if he couldn’t see her. His head was pounding, and his shoulder hurt, but other than that, he felt lucky to be alive, considering the fate of the other Hobbs.

When the nurse came in, he gave Will a smile and checked his vitals briskly. “Hi, I’m Jacob. Are you aware of who you are and where you are right now, Mr. Graham?”

“Uh, I’m Will Graham, and I guess I’m in the hospital for my stab wound.”

Jacob smiled. “That’s right. Your vitals seem to be okay, and other than the wound on your shoulder and several lacerations on your torso, it looks like you’re doing alright. Dr. Ollunds will be making her round soon, so sit tight until then. Is your head okay?”

“Just a mild headache, but I’m used to it by now.”

Jacob made a note of that on the clipboard by the end of Will’s bed. “Alright, the doctor will give you a more thorough check later. If you feel any worsening symptoms, please let us know. Any allergies to medications?”

Will shook his head.

“Right. It says here on your record that you’re an omega, and you’ve been taking suppressants?”

“Prescribed ones, yes,” Will said.

“Okay, so we had to flush them out of your system for the treatment we have you on. It shouldn’t affect you too much, but of course there might be side effects since you’ve been on them for a while. Again, if there’s any discomfort or worsening symptoms, please let us know. We’re here to help you.”

Will nodded. He’d expected as much, but he was too tired to worry about the consequences for now. “Yeah, of course. Thanks.”

Jacob smiled at Will and Beverly, who had been standing silently to the side, before he left the room.

Will turned to stare at Beverly, raising his eyebrows and beckoning her to his bedside again. “Hobbs?”

Beverly rolled her eyes, lowering herself into the seat by the bed. “Seriously? You’re in the hospital and that’s the first thing you’ve thought to ask me?” She sighed. “You did good, Will. Minneapolis PD arrested him when they came. He’s still in custody. Jack’s interviewing him. It’s been hell for the last couple of days, but we got all the evidence we need, thanks to you. It’s just a matter of prosecuting him later, but we got him.”

Will nodded, relieved. “Okay. Good.” With that out of the way, he paid more attention to Beverly, looking askance at her ruffled appearance. “Your eyes are red.”

Beverly let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah. I was crying because I was angry _,_ you asshole.”

Will frowned. “You’re mad… at me?”

“At you and Jack! And hell, throw Dr. Lecter in too!”

“Why?”

“You—” Beverly cut herself off with a huff, looking away for a few seconds to gather her composure. “You know what, let’s not do this right now. You’re still recovering.”

Will nodded, accepting the momentary truce. He was feeling tired, and his head still felt sluggish. “Where am I?”

“Still in Minnesota. We’re all down here to wrap up the evidence. We found Hobbs' cabin a few days ago.” She sighed. “I guess we’re going to be here for another week, depending on how the PD handles this case. Which is a good thing, because at least I get to be here with you.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Two days, I think? I don’t know, it’s been a ride once we heard about what happened to you.”

“When can I leave?”

Beverly snorted. “We’ll let the doctor figure that one out, okay?” She squinted at him, trying to gauge his condition. “You sure you’re okay? Other than your shoulder?”

Will nodded as much as he could. “Yeah. Just tired.” He pressed his lips together and avoided Beverly’s gaze. “Guess I really lucked out.”

Beverly sighed. “Yeah, we’re lucky he stabbed your shoulder instead of vital organs. And we’re lucky Dr. Lecter was there. He administered first aid after you fainted and made sure you were okay before the EMTs took over. Apparently, you were losing a lot of blood and went into shock on the way here.”

“Is he okay?”

Beverly frowned at his question. “Who? Dr. Lecter? Yeah, he’s fine. I guess he’s seen this kind of situation before when he was working as a surgeon? Had steady hands and stayed calm through it all.” She considered Will, then, tilting her head. “He’s been here to visit you a few times, you know. He only left when I got here.”

Will frowned. “Huh. Guess he felt guilty over what happened.”

Beverly gave a noncommittal hum, sounding unconvinced by his weak reasoning. It wasn’t like Lecter was responsible for the outcome of the case. She said nothing else for a moment, however, staring at him as though she could divine his thoughts and worries that way.

Will lowered his eyes and trained them on the thread unspooling from his blanket. “Did… did the wife and daughter make it?”

Beverly sighed. “By the time Dr. Lecter and first responders got to Louise and Abigail Hobbs, they were already dead.”

 _Abby,_ Hobbs’ voice echoed back to him.

Will hadn’t even seen Abigail Hobbs as she drew her last breath in that kitchen, but her death hit him hard. His eyes were lowered when he felt tears prickling at the corner of his eyes.

“Will,” came Beverly’s soft voice. “Their deaths were not your fault.”

Will shut his eyes, heaving a deep sigh. “I know that. Must be something in the drugs they gave me.”

Beverly allowed him this, at least. She didn’t comment on his tear-streaked face, clasping her hand over his instead.

Sighing, he laced their fingers together and let Beverly’s presence lull him into a peaceful doze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the lovely peeps who are still around, your comments have really made my day <333 I knew this wasn't going to be popular considering it's primarily Bev/Will (especially at the moment), but honestly this is the most fun I've had in writing lol. I guess it helps that there's less expectation for this story so I'm just steering it where the characters will go at this point.
> 
> Super excited to finally get to this chapter, and I can say I'm equally excited for the next one. Once again, thank you for sticking around!


	7. Chapter 7

The doctor had told Will that he would be monitored for a few more days before he could be discharged. Will accepted this with a disgruntled noise, though Beverly was quick to tell him he could leave earlier if he “behaved like a model patient.” He acknowledged that with a roll of his eyes and another disgruntled noise. It wasn’t like he had any other choice, anyway.

Since he had to extend his stay in Minnesota, he called Alana to request a similar extension of his pack’s stay with her. Alana, having heard of what happened to Will, accepted the request, sighing when she asked Will how he was doing.

“Not too bad,” Will said, picking at the bedsheets beneath his fingers. “At least it’s just my shoulder.”

“I’m going to have words with Jack later,” Alana promised, her voice steely with quiet rage.

Will sighed. “It’s not him killing the girls, Alana.”

“I know, but he’s the one who put you out there, every time.”

“Yeah. I was the one who said yes, though.”

Alana sighed as she always did when the two of them reached an impasse in their approach to Will’s work-life balance. “Well, for what it’s worth, Applesauce is enjoying the company.”

Will chuckled, grateful for the change in subject. “Thank you. I know I say it every time, but I appreciate it. How are Zoe and Winston settling in?”

“Not too bad, though I think Winston misses you a lot. Found him trying to escape through the door a few times, probably trying to get back to you. They’re doing well, though. When did they join the pack, anyway? I swear the more time passes, the more you add to them.”

He gave an awkward laugh. “Found Zoe in a box on a sidewalk when it was raining, so I had to take her in. I nabbed Winston somewhere along the highway on the way home one night.”

Alana chuckled, warmth filling her next words. “You and your pack. You did great with them, though. They look happy.”

Will smiled and thanked Alana yet again for her help before he hung up. With his dogs taken care of, he could focus on his recuperation.

By the next morning, however, he was already getting antsy. Beverly was busy at work with Jack’s team, and he didn’t have anything to do other than reading or counting the cracks in the ceiling. (The book selection here was abysmal and there were twelve hairline cracks right above his bed and at least two noticeable cracks that would need some patching.) Being bed-bound was not something he had experienced before, at least not to this extent. It wasn’t something he would be in a hurry to experience again if he could help it.

Well, he wasn’t exactly bedridden, but he did find it necessary to keep to his room as much as possible to run into a certain persistent journalist.

He’d asked for permission from Jacob to “stretch his legs”. Since he was only suffering from a stab wound and didn’t need strict supervision, he could go wherever he wanted, provided he stuck to the hospital grounds and alert any of the nearby care workers if he felt unwell. Perhaps the fact that the local PD had stationed an officer to guard Will was also a factor. Will thought the protective detail was a bit excessive, though he had no say in it. The officer was there because Jack Crawford had wanted him there, and what Jack wanted, Jack would get.

He had wandered around the grounds with no destination in mind, the officer shadowing him several paces behind. Though it was cold out, the autumn was milder in Minnesota than it was in Wolf Trap. Thankfully Will had his military jacket with him, which had taken him some time to shrug on, on account of his recovering shoulder. Despite the cooler weather, there were other patients milling around the expansive grounds. Others who looked similarly tired from being cooped up in a hospital room, from the looks of it. Busy with the mindless observations of his surroundings, he was unprepared to see a spirited woman with fiery red hair marching towards him with a purposeful stride.

While Will had given little thought to Freddie Lounds before this, beyond the derision he felt whenever he came across her tabloid fodder, he had wondered if he would have a run-in with her before long. Someone must have leaked the info of his being hospitalized here, and Will found himself face-to-face with her before long. The only reason he’d recognized Lounds at all was because Beverly had shared a picture of her and told him to stay far away if he ever saw her at a crime scene. He’d followed that advice for the past few months, but he supposed it was only a matter of time until he had to deal with her.

The officer assigned to him—Officer Fowles—stepped forward then, intending to shield Will from Lounds, but Will held him off with a hand up.

“It’s okay,” Will said with a wry smile. “I know who she is. I can handle her.”

Fowles gave him a nonplussed look. “Really? Okay, your funeral, man.” He stepped aside, though he lingered at Will’s periphery.

Will snorted, though he appreciated the sentiment. It looked like Lounds already had a reputation at the Minneapolis PD.

Lounds appraised him for a moment before breaking into a wild smile. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met before—”

“Oh, we haven’t met,” Will cut in, “but I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lounds.”

Her smile widened. “Excellent. A fan of TattleCrime, then?”

Will snorted. “After you called me an ‘unstable omega with psychopathic tendencies’? What do you think?”

“I think you know that I’m speaking the truth.” She grinned. “Would you like to give me a quote or two about your heroic but ultimately tragic attempt to catch the Minnesota Shrike?”

“Why should I bother? You’d make one up, anyway.”

“But it’s so much more satisfying to get it straight from the horse’s mouth, or so they say.”

“I’m not giving you anything, Lounds. I couldn’t care less what you write about everything else, but leave me alone.”

Lounds gave him a cloying smile. “I’m afraid I can’t do that unless you remove yourself from the FBI’s criminal investigations. It looks like you’re getting a taste for it. Having fun looking into these killers’ heads?”

That got his blood boiling.

Will stepped forward calmly, noting the way Lounds’ eyebrow raise faintly at the hidden threat. Up close, she was more diminutive than he’d thought, considering how larger-than-life her stories often were. If he had to guess, he’d put her down as a beta, though it wouldn’t surprise him if she was a fellow omega. None of that mattered, of course, not when all he wanted was to prove a point to her so that she’d leave him alone.

He bared his teeth at her. “Do you think everyone is having _fun_ trying to put a name to these murders? Is your need for recognition really obscuring you to the fact that whatever you write is actually not true, something you made up to tantalize and scintillate your less discerning readers?” He sneered. “I’m sure you know your readership would drop at least by half if you stick to the facts 100% of the time instead of sensationalizing and exaggerating things to a hyperbole. It’s why you keep doing it, isn’t it?”

Lounds’ expression had shifted from her overconfident persona to a stony facade, her green eyes narrowing with disdain and ire. “You think you’re all that, do you? Fair enough. I’ll leave you alone for now, though you should know that I’m not the only party interested in the unlikely omega hero who caught the Minnesota Shrike in such a spectacular manner.”

She gave him an unnerving smile before walking away. Clearly wanting to leave with the last word, however, she turned to him while he was still in earshot. “I just want to know this, though, and I’m sure the public will agree: How do you sleep at night, knowing you failed to save Abigail Hobbs even though you could have?” Her wide smile made his skin crawl. “I guess we’ll never know for sure. Unless you feel like talking about it.”

With that, she left.

Beverly reacted just as he expected when she heard what happened later that evening. Once she got off from work, she listened in silence as Will recounted his exchange with Lounds, holding back judgment until he was finished.

She let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t help messing with her, could you?”

Will glared at her. “You would have too if you were in my place.”

“I wouldn’t have, because Jack would have my hide if I even speak to some journalist.” She shrugged. “We’re not supposed to engage at all with these people unless sanctioned to. Some of us have lost our jobs for less.”

“Look, she came here to find me. It’s not like I was the one begging for a feature on her column or whatever.”

“I get that.” She sighed, looking resigned. “Never mind, let’s just hope she doesn’t twist your words into something worse.”

“Knowing her, she’ll probably insinuate that I eat babies for breakfast or that I’m the devil reincarnate because I enjoyed my ‘journey into psychopathic minds.’”

“I wouldn’t put it past her, but we’ll deal with the repercussions later.”

“Yeah.” Will glanced at Beverly, clocking in her disheveled ponytail and eye bags. “You doing okay? You look like you’re five seconds away from falling asleep on me.”

She yawned and stretched on the sofa she was sitting on. “Yeah, it’s been a time since we got here. We’re mostly done with our part, though. All that’s left is to take some witness statements, and then we’re hopefully out of here in a few more days.”

“That’s great.” He groaned when he realized what she meant, however. “Does that mean Jack is going to come for my statement next?”

Beverly shrugged. “I told him not to bother you while you’re still recovering. He’s still dealing with the local PD, so you’ll have some time to yourself for a little while, hopefully.” She yawned again. “God, it’s not even seven and I’m beat. Listen, I have to leave soon, but let me know if you need anything. A book? Coffee? Flowers? I never know what to bring to people in the hospital.”

Instead of answering, Will bit his lips, contemplating. He forced himself to speak when Beverly rose from her seat. “You can sleep here.” He blushed when she raised her eyebrows at him. “I mean, if you want to, I know this isn’t as comfortable as your hotel.”

She snorted. “You kidding me? The motel bed is a joke. Pretty sure Zee’s bed had fleas, he was complaining about it this morning. You sure I can stay, though? The nurses might throw me out after visiting hours.”

Will’s blush deepened, and he avoided Beverly’s eyes as he answered. “Uh, I don’t have a next of kin, so I told them you’re my alpha. So…”

Beverly gave him a wide, teasing grin as she ambled over to his side. She waited until he met her gaze to lean in for a soft, lingering kiss. When she pulled away, the grin was still present on her face. “I’m just gonna go back for a shower and come back later, okay? Don’t let Jacob throw me out when I come back.”

Will nodded and watched her walk away, feeling lighter than he had for the past few days at the promise of her company.

The next morning started off with some sort of disturbance.

Will awoke to the strange sounds of Beverly arguing with someone, the alpha sounding angry enough that he could hear her voice carrying into his room. The door to his room had been left slightly ajar. It was possible that Beverly didn’t notice that she hadn’t closed it fully before she began her conversation with whoever it was outside.

It was the first time he’d heard actual rage in her tone that it caught him off guard for a moment. Blinking the sleep away from his eyes, he looked at the clock on his bedside. It was a few minutes after 8 AM, but the commotion on the other side of the door told him that the people outside of his room didn’t care for the time.

Sure enough, he heard Jack’s authoritative voice a few seconds later, the man sounding harried and aggravated. “Beverly, I’m only asking for half an hour, an hour at most. He could probably spare that much time, it was only a stab wound—”

“Jack!” Beverly’s voice cut in. “Even if it was ‘only’ a stab wound, that doesn’t make this right. He’s already feeling messed up that he couldn’t save the mother and the girl and having nightmares about it. Never mind that they weren’t his responsibility anyway because he was only supposed to be on a routine investigation, not going out for field duty—”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Jack’s tone grew dangerous, and Will swallowed his own trepidation at the dressing-down Beverly would receive.

Beverly, however, sounded as if she didn’t care. “Do you really, Jack? Because from where I’m standing it looks like you’re coming here to ask him to relive his trauma of watching two people bleed out in front of him. He wasn’t supposed to be injured! Was this what you wanted when you put him in the field?”

“Katz, I’d choose my words carefully if I were you.”

Beverly snorted. “I’ve always chosen my words carefully, but _you never listen._ You _know_ the toll this kind of job takes on him, and yet you always pull him in for the worst case of these serial killers. I get that he’s the most skilled at it, but have you ever stopped to think that he might get worse one day and would just lose it over what you’re forcing him to do?”

“I didn’t force him into anything, he said yes whenever I asked him—”

“Of course he did. How could he say no to you in plainer terms when all you do is bulldoze over him, anyway?”

“Katz, I’m warning you again—”

“Good morning, Jack. Dr. Katz.”

Lecter’s voice intruding into the heated conversation between Jack and Beverly was the last thing Will had expected to come out of this escalating mess, but he listened with bated breath as they resumed talking.

“Oh, Hannibal, finally. I was waiting for you before we could go in and question Will, since Katz is not cooperating—”

“God _dammit,_ Jack—”

“—I did _not_ just hear that, Beverly—”

“Might I suggest the two of you calm down so the nurses don’t throw us out for the commotion?” 

Jack seemed to be placated by Lecter’s words, his words dying off immediately in the face of it.

Beverly snorted. “Great, just great. So are you here to traumatize Will too, Dr. Lecter?”

Her sarcastic remark gave the other two alphas some pause. Will could imagine Jack’s heavy frown at the accusation and the mild surprise as they digested Beverly’s words.

“I stopped by to make sure Will was doing well,” Lecter said, sounding calm as always. “In fact, I brought him something to eat; something to help him along in his recovery.”

“…Oh.” Beverly scoffed. “Okay, and here I thought you were here to question Will with the FBI.” The last few words were obviously directed at Jack. Will didn’t even need to be there to know the expressions the three of them would be making right now. “Jack, he’s going to be discharged in a few more days, can’t it wait until later? Give him some time, he’s already had to deal with Lounds yesterday.”

Jack let out a muttered curse. “Did she come here?”

“She did. Came to hound Will for an interview.”

“What the hell was Fowles doing!”

“Fowles did his best, but that’s not the point, Jack. What happened to Will shouldn’t have happened at all, but it did, so I’m trying my best to deal with the fallout, but he’s not going to make progress on his recovery if you keep bugging him like this. We already have what we need to prosecute Hobbs, Will’s statement is just a formality at this point.”

Jack’s put-upon sigh sounded heavily through the door. “We still need to question him, there’s no getting around that fact.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t have to be now! All I’m asking is for some time.”

“For what it’s worth, Jack, I concur with Dr. Katz.”

“See? Even the other good doctor agrees with me.” Beverly’s voice softened in the next second. “Jack, you were the one who appointed me as his handler, so don’t you think you should listen to my advice on this?”

Jack snorted. “Are you sure you’re just his handler, Katz?”

There was a long silence then, and Will’s heartbeat ratcheted up at the meaning behind Jack’s words. Jack knew. He might have suspected before this, but now he definitely knew about Will and Beverly.

“And what if I’m more than that?” came Beverly’s challenging answer.

“I could remove you as his handler, seeing as you have an obvious conflict of interest—”

Beverly gave a short laugh. “And risk not finding another one who could work him as well as I do?”

“Dr. Lecter seems to be a fine fit, he’s made some headway with Will during the Shrike case—”

This time, Will echoed Beverly’s scoff, though he kept his quiet in comparison.

“Really? I’m sorry, mind telling me what happened during Will’s latest stint with Dr. Lecter that ended up putting him in the hospital? No offense, Dr. Lecter.”

“None taken.”

Another lengthy silence, then. Jack pondering and weighing his options.

Then, another heavy sigh from Jack. “Fine. I’ll come back the day after tomorrow, bright and early. You make sure he’s ready by then if you think you can handle him.”

“He doesn’t need ‘handling’ Jack, he’s not some kind of fragile china, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Beverly said, her tone dry and sarcastic. “But fine. Day after tomorrow.”

Jack’s derisive snort was the last thing Will heard before Beverly came back into the room a few seconds later, her face still red with her simmering anger. Will had never seen a more pleasing sight.

The moment she came in, however, she noticed the opened door and Will’s attentive face. “Oh hell,” she said, running a hand over her face. “How much of that did you hear?”

“From when Jack said ‘’twas just a flesh wound’ up until you said that I don’t need handling.”

“Oh, you’re lucid enough to make jokes, huh? Maybe I should call Jack in again.” Beverly laughed at Will’s grimace, though her laughter gave way to a tired sigh. “So much for not being emotionally compromised, huh?”

Will’s face flushed at that, pleased and embarrassed in equal measures. “So you’re saying you’re the Spock in this relationship?”

She rolled her eyes. “If anything, you’re the Vulcan in this equation. You’re a much scarier empath than Sarek ever was. All sass and biting words, complete with the glower and everything.”

“Oh, those are fighting words.”

There was a small noise at the entrance to his room, then, pulling their attention to Lecter peeking in on the two of them, hovering over the doorway looking as if he was unsure of his reception. His expression was one of genuine curiosity as he looked between the two of them. “May I come in?”

Reminded of the same words the alpha had uttered to him at his motel a few days ago _(has it really been just a few days ago?)_ , Will smiled. “Come on in.”

Lecter did, giving the two of them a small smile before he crossed the room to put down a familiar bag on the table by the window. It was the same bag that had housed several ceramic food containers when Lecter had brought Will breakfast. Sure enough, Lecter took out a few containers out of the bag and arranged them in an order only he himself understood, opening the lids to each and setting them aside with his bag.

The smell of the meals filled the room when Lecter opened the lids, Will’s stomach gurgling in acknowledgment. It was early still, and the hospital staff had yet to make their rounds to serve him breakfast. From the smell wafting into the room, he had a feeling his hospital meal would go ignored after this.

“Breakfast,” Lecter said with a quick smile, seeing Beverly’s amused smile and Will’s raised brow at his meticulous presentation of the meals. “Black silkie chicken broth with red dates, wolfberries, ginseng, and star anise. The black silkie is purported to give you plenty of health benefits, a prized delicacy in China for its medicinal value.”

Will smiled at the list of ingredients and Lecter’s commentary on them. “You brought me chicken soup.”

Lecter’s micro-frown was there and gone again in the next second. “I suppose I did.”

Beverly grinned. “Don’t mind him, he’s always this sarcastic in the morning.”

Lecter raised an eyebrow in Beverly’s direction. “I assume you’ve seen him in similar states often, then.”

Beverly became more guarded at that, her usually open expression closing off. Wary of giving away anything more.

Will had no such compunctions at keeping their relationship a secret, especially not in the face of Beverly’s defense of him earlier. “Yes, she has. She also slept here last night,” he said, staring at Lecter baldly.

A genuine smile graced Lecter’s face, his eyes crinkling with it. “I’m glad you have her around, then. It could get very lonely, staying alone in the hospital. It’s always nice to have your loved ones nearby when you need them.”

Beverly was back to looking amused, exchanging a look with Will. “So… you always bring food to omegas under your care, Dr. Lecter?”

Lecter smiled and gestured to the containers of food. “Please, call me Hannibal. That goes for you, too, Will. And as I have told Will, I’m very careful about what I put into my body, so I always prepare my meals myself. I’m happy to say that I’ve brought extras. Would you care to join us?”

Beverly smiled. “Sure. And please, do me a favor and call me Beverly if we’re dispensing with the formality.”

The three of them ended up resettling around the small dining area, Beverly digging in with no further instructions needed. She moaned around a mouthful of the broth and looked impressed with the fancy fare.

“This tastes great,” she said, smiling at Lecter. “Reminds me of the broth my mom used to make. She loves everything ginseng.”

“I’m glad my skills are up to par,” Lecter said. “It took me several tries to perfect the recipe, but it became a staple in my diet once I figured out the right balance. Though finding the silkie chicken takes some ingenuity.”

Beverly laughed. “I don’t doubt it. By the way, how’s the local PD treating you? They didn’t give you any trouble after you made your statement, right?”

Lecter shook his head. “No, I’ve given them all I could. And they’ve been no trouble. I’m glad I managed to handle the situation as much as I could. It’s been some time since I’ve practiced medicine after I’ve turned to psychiatry, but I’m glad my rusty skills are still useful in some ways. I still wish I had been able to save Louise and Abigail, however.”

Will met Lecter’s gaze at that. He was surprised to see that the alpha meant it. “You wouldn’t have been able to do anything, Dr. Lecter. We had to stop Hobbs from getting away, and that meant focusing on him.”

Lecter’s smile was minute and kind. “Then, I hope you understand that the same holds true for you, as well. There was nothing you could have done to change the outcome of what happened, Will. What you have done in ensuring Garrett Jacob Hobbs is caught was more than enough. More girls would have died if it wasn’t for you.”

Feeling the blush creeping onto his face at the direct praise and pride in Lecter’s gaze, Will averted his eyes and focused on his dwindling broth instead. His skin prickled with the awareness that both alphas were watching him, flushing further at the thought of having their undivided attention on him. Instead of responding, he nodded and mumbled something in acknowledgment of Lecter’s point.

Lecter seemed to accept this as a concession, his voice soft and amused as he said, “And please, Will. Call me Hannibal. We’re all friends here, are we not?”

The days following that odd altercation between the three alphas weren’t what he would call “fun”. Jack made good on his promise-slash-threat to come for Will’s statement when he was up for it. Figuring he might as well get it over with, he told Jack to come a day earlier. The alpha didn’t waste any time after that, showing up at the hospital in record time with the local PD in tow.

The whole thing took several hours of his time, Jack’s face growing more somber as Will walked him through what had happened. It was exhausting to relive the experience, but he pushed on. At the end of the interview, Jack stared at Will for a moment before squeezing Will’s shoulder, almost paternal in a way. Never mind that he was barely a decade older than Will.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Jack said, his face grave with the knowledge of what Will had gone through. “You should be proud. You played an important part in putting Hobbs behind bars.”

Will’s shrug felt awkward, wincing at the sudden stabbing pain at the movement. “I’m glad he’s dealt with.”

Jack smiled. “Best not to move your shoulders for a little while,” he said in parting.

Other than the dreaded interview, Will was kept occupied with his treatment regime and rehabilitation sessions. The nurses helped him with exercises that were meant to help along the healing process for his shoulder, Will gritting his teeth throughout the whole exercise. The exercises were going to be a bitch to follow through, but he would do his best. He had a feeling Beverly would pester him to do it until he relented, knowing her.

Regardless of her tendency to strong-arm him into acceptance, he appreciated her presence throughout his mandatory rest period. Though he was the one who’d asked her to stay over, it still surprised him to see her every time. Their evenings were spent rehashing the progress the FBI and Minneapolis PD had made, with Beverly’s eyes dropping closed soon after dinner, exhausted from her task and recounting. Her quiet presence was enough to allay any lingering nightmares he had about the Hobbs family.

Much to his surprise, Hannibal—as Will had taken to calling the doctor in his head ever since that second breakfast—made a few appearances throughout Will’s stay in the hospital. Though he came under the pretense of gauging Will’s emotional condition through their conversations, the meals that accompanied his visits were the main star of the show. Here was another alpha who somehow had it in his head to force Will to eat something for some weird reason. He wondered if there was a sign above his head that said something like “feral omega; please feed with caution.” He could understand _why_ alphas felt the compulsion to provide nourishment to omegas—one of those ingrained biological traits—but to see it directed towards him was another thing.

While the food and conversation with the enigmatic alpha were undeniably interesting, the development of their relationship was perplexing. Hannibal didn’t seem like the type to strike up friendships easily, and his continuous presence had Will pondering over what it could mean.

“Why are you still here?” Will asked him during one of their lunches in his hospital room, curious despite himself. “Bev told me you’re more or less done here since Hobbs’ case is wrapping up and everything. I would’ve thought you’d be heading back on the first flight a few days ago.”

Hannibal smiled, taking no offense at the question. Most alphas would balk at Will’s insolent ways of calling them out on their behavior, but Hannibal just looked endlessly amused by it. “I find you very interesting, more so after what has happened. What we have experienced at Hobbs’ house has tied us together in an inextricable way. A part of me wanted to ensure you are doing well.”

Will heaved a tired sigh. “I don’t know if that sort of bonding experience is healthy for either of us, doctor.” He didn’t deny that he felt the same sense of kinship. It wasn’t something he cared to examine at the moment.

“Nevertheless.” Hannibal spread his palms out in a gesture of acceptance. “It is what it is. Perhaps you don’t feel it as strongly as I do. I feel… responsible for the outcome of your well-being in this case. I can’t help but think that my failure to respond to the situation contributed to your injury and Abigail Hobbs’s death.”

Will gave a small shrug with his good shoulder and gave him a morose smile. “You said yourself that there was nothing either of us could have done. Though I can’t deny that I still have doubts and guilt over what happened, thinking about what I could have done differently. Even knowing it’s useless wishful thinking, I can’t help imagining all the different outcomes.”

“A very human behavior,” Hannibal agreed. “Trying to make sense of what happened within the contexts of what our minds could wrap around with the benefit of hindsight. It is ultimately a futile endeavor, but that doesn’t stop our minds from trying.”

Will smirked. “I figured you’d understand better than most.”

Hannibal leaned forward then, close enough that Will could see the different shades of his eyes, almost maroon eyes in this angle, the sunlight silhouetting the alpha’s tranquil face. “I admit there is one thing I’m curious about. The moment you stood over Hobbs, knowing that you were the one who caught him and put him where he belonged… What did it feel like to point your gun in Hobbs’ face at that moment?”

Will studied him for a long moment, watching the way the shadows danced across Hannibal’s face with the rhythmic rustling of the trees outside the windows. The preternatural stillness didn’t dampen the overt curiosity in Hannibal’s gaze, the alpha watching Will with rapt attention.

There was something strange about Hannibal. Will knew that much, even if he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. Most alphas who had an interest in him were in it for his empathy or his omegan qualities; most of them found out sooner rather than later what a mistake their interest in him was.

Hannibal’s interest in him was harder to parse. A facet of it was definitely due to his empathy, but his brand of curiosity went beyond that. The intensity of it was disconcerting, at times. It was strange to discover that Hannibal’s interest did not waver after that incident in Hobbs’ kitchen. His apparent intrigue in Will’s darker thoughts was… Will still wasn’t sure what he felt about that. It was worrying in part, but he couldn’t deny the swell of pleasure at the thought that Hannibal could see the underlying darkness in him and be _accepting_ of it.

Looking at the alpha now, Will knew Hannibal wouldn’t judge him for his confession. So he looked Hannibal in the eye when he said, “It felt like justice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit, this is turning more into a Bev/Will fic with the other alphas thrown in as a bonus because honestly who wouldn't appreciate someone who stuck by your side and defended you to your boss? Hannibal needs to step up, is all I'm saying...
> 
> Also, every time someone commented to say they enjoy Bev/Will after reading this, my heart grows three sizes T_T You guys are the absolute best, thank you so much! I am now the proud owner of an abnormally-large heart! <3333


	8. Chapter 8

The day he was discharged was an excellent day for Will. His sutures were removed a day earlier, and he had regained his mobility in the last few days as they reduced the drugs coursing through him. Except for his shoulder, he felt better, if a little sluggish still. Still, he was so elated to be coming back home that he didn’t even mind the two-hour flight and the subsequent forty minutes drive back to Wolf Trap. It helped that Beverly was beside him all the way since the alpha had insisted on accompanying him to make sure he got back safely.

“I’m not going to slip on a sleet of ice and die,” Will said during their flight back, his eyes closing with exhaustion. Airport security was always a hassle to deal with, but he was glad to be on the way home.

She snorted. “We never know with you. Plus, I have it on good authority that it just started snowing in Virginia,” she said. “It’ll be harder to control your tires when you don’t have the full use of both hands, what with your _stab wound_ and all.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, point taken.”

When the car finally rolled onto the dirt road leading up to Will’s graveled driveway, he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his house. It was silent for now since his dogs were still with Alana, but his restlessness at being away from home for so long subsided somewhat. He would be glad when his pack is back with him.

Beverly helped him around as they bustled around the house, Will tidying up the space after a week of his absence, and Beverly cooking something light and simple for dinner. They consumed their meals in relative silence, both of them still recovering from the journey and the hectic week they’d had.

After dinner, they both took a quick shower before settling into bed by eight that night, huddling together as close as they could without aggravating Will’s shoulder.

“You feeling okay?” Beverly asked.

Will yawned. “Could be worse.”

“Okay.” Beverly responded with her own yawn, her breath puffing against his shoulder. “I told Jack I’m going to take a few days off to recover, so I’m going to sleep in tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, sure. You can stay here ’till then.”

“Okay. Alana bringing your pack home tomorrow? You’re gonna need help with them.”

Will gave a soft snort. “I’m not an invalid.”

“Hey, don’t come crying to me when the dogs run into your bad shoulder when they greet you.”

Will grunted. She had a point there.

“Wake me up if you have nightmares.” Another pointed yawn.

“I think I’m good.” Come to think of it, he hadn’t suffered from nightmares for the past few days. Maybe it was because of Beverly staying over with him at the hospital. Or maybe they gave him the really good drugs.

Beverly hummed at that, sounding pleased. “Okay, that’s good. Night.”

“Night, Bev.” The last thing Will remembered before sleep claimed him was the fleeting wonder he felt at how their relationship had grown into this.

He spent the next few days in blessed peacefulness.

Will was on leave for another week for his recovery. Something in him balked with restlessness at having nothing to do at Wolf Trap for a week. Apart from spending his time with his dogs and reading, there weren’t many activities left for him that weren’t strenuous on his shoulder. Tinkering with motors and engines was out of the question, while fishing came with the risk of damage to the healing muscles and tendons in his shoulder.

He was glad for the additional days of rest, however, when he had to figure out how to carry out his routine activities with a bad shoulder. T-shirts were a no-go, so he had to stick with buttoned shirts. It was the first time he’d brought out the pajamas that he’d shoved to the back of his drawers, the soft flannel pajamas he’d received from an office Christmas gift exchange. He was grateful for them now since he couldn’t sleep shirtless, not with how cold the weather was turning.

He also had to be careful not to strain his shoulder whenever he carried out menial tasks that had given him no problem before his injury. He’d unthinkingly reached out for a box of cereal in the upper cupboards with his left hand once and winced at his mistake. It was clear that the next few weeks were going to be an adjustment period. Still, at least his injuries weren’t more serious.

Beverly had stayed with him for a couple of days to make sure he could move around and do his chores with no trouble before Will persuaded her to leave. While he appreciated her presence and didn’t mind her staying over, by the end of the third day he could tell both of them needed their solitude. And so Beverly had left with the promise that she would be back later, once Will was up for company.

Other than reacquainting himself to the familiar routine of his life in light of his injury, the rest of the week passed by without event, and Will was content to spend it with his dogs. They were happy to see him back, Winston more so than others. Out of his pack, Winston was the one who’d stuck by him even while the rest of the dogs pranced around excitedly whenever the pack was out roaming the grounds.

The night before he was scheduled to return to work, Will opened a bottle of whiskey from his shelf and poured two fingers for himself, watching the flames from the fireplace casting shadows across his dozing pack. He had another two hours before he’d go to bed, and he’d gotten away from Hobbs’ shadow relatively unscathed — he deserved a drink.

He’d experienced a few nightmares throughout the week, though he couldn’t remember much when he’d woken up. It felt more like flashes of memories of his confrontation with Hobbs rather than nightmares, though there were some variations to the outcomes with every iteration of his dream. So. His nightmares were his psyche telling him he was obsessing over things he couldn’t change. Which was nothing new, so he didn’t bother giving them any credence. It was tiring, dealing with them, but he’d gotten used to his empathy wreaking havoc on his sleep schedule.

Will let out a long exhale as he watched over at his dogs, jealous of their uninterrupted slumber.

When Will returned to class the next day, his students had the gall to clap their hands when he entered the lecture hall.

“Please stop,” he said, sighing and dropping his satchel on his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose in a show of consternation. When the claps wound down, he glared at them over his glasses and gestured for them to sit down. “While I appreciate your show of support for what I do, I’d appreciate it even more if you show by writing better papers.” A few students tittered and gave sheepish smiles at his wry tone. “Now, does anyone have any question before we pick up from where Professor Bloom left you with?”

A few hands raised, and Will pointed to a bright-eyed student, who immediately launched into her question as if she was afraid Will was going to change his mind. “How did you figure out it was Hobbs?”

Will’s lips quirked into a quick smile. “Had a feeling you would ask that. I’m going to show you a few slides and ask you the same question, so thank you for opening the topic for us.”

The class went on smoothly after that, the students even more enraptured in the case material than ever. Perhaps it was because their professor had been at the actual crime scene and had played an instrumental part in Hobbs’ capture. Will was just glad they weren’t treating him like some sort of celebrity. The class ended without fanfare, and even Abigail and Garrett Jacob Hobbs’ projected pictures couldn’t dampen his ebullient mood. It was times like these that reminded Will why he enjoyed teaching and imparting his lessons to the trainees who would become full-fledged FBI agents.

Even after class ended, his students didn’t seem inclined to leave, breaking off into small groups to discuss the lesson. Some of the more intrepid, younger ones approached Will in groups of two’s and three’s hoping to discuss the finer points of the case with him. Rejuvenated by the sense that he was doing something right (and the fact that he’d finally gotten to do something other than rest after several weeks), he entertained them as long as he could until he saw Alana approach him with a small smile.

He returned her smile with a confused smile of his own. “Alana.”

The rest of the lingering students took that as a cue to break away from him, thanking him for the class and leaving with satisfied smiles. They seemed much more reluctant to leave his class today, some of them giving him too-wide-smiles as they left. 

“Hi, Will,” Alana said, giving him a once-over. “How are you doing? Your shoulder still giving you trouble?”

“It’s not too bad right now. Only gets worse when it’s cold out, which, considering it’s winter…”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound great.”

“Yeah.” He huffed. “Story of my life. So what brings you here?”

Alana drew a deep breath, keeping the smile on her face when Will turned a wary eye on her. “Guess I’m just here to give you a heads-up on an imminent ambush.”

Dread settled into the pit of his stomach. “Jack’s coming, isn’t he?”

Alana’s answer was interrupted by the arrival of the man himself, both Alana and Will sighing at his appearance. Will didn’t miss the side-eye Jack gave Alana before the alpha turned to him, his demeanor as grave as it ever was.

What was it this time? A killer targeting a family? A gruesome display a la the Copycat? Another case involving dead or missing children? There were only so many of these cases Jack could throw at him before Will protested against it. (Though even then, Will knew deep inside that his protests would be futile if there were children on the line.)

All he knew was that whatever Jack wanted must be bad if Alana thought he needed a warning for the ambush.

“I just came back from a meeting with the Board,” Jack said, “regarding the outcome of the Minnesota Shrike’s case. Based on their review, the Board is recommending a psych evaluation.”

If Will was gripping anything right now, he thought he would have broken whatever it was in his grip, so strong was the disgust coursing through him at Jack’s words. “Is this a _recommendation,_ or are you telling me I’m going, regardless?”

Jack’s frown was heavy; he was expecting Will’s reluctance on this, looking equally unhappy as Will felt. “I’m sorry, Will. That was the condition they gave me in exchange for a green light for you to return as a consultant for the Bureau.”

Will curled his lips in disdain, letting out a sigh of frustration as his gaze flitted between Jack and Alana. “So are we starting now?” he asked Alana. That was the only other reason she’d be here.

“Oh, the session wouldn’t be with me,” Alana hurried to say.

 _Ah,_ Will thought. _Still not over the whole setting-her-boundaries bit, then._

“Hannibal Lecter would be a better fit,” Jack said, giving him a small smile. “You’ve met with him a couple of times before, so you’d be comfortable with him, wouldn’t you?”

Will ground his teeth in frustration. Trust Jack to use that against him. If he had known that this would be waiting for him upon his return, he’d rather take an extended leave. “Is it because I’m an omega?” he bit out. “Did you force a psych eval on Dr. Bloom too when she signed on to become a consultant?”

Alana winced at the use of her title, though she rallied on and gave him her most earnest, concerned look. “You’ve never faced that kind of confrontation before, Will. It can’t be easy seeing two people die in front of you. This has nothing to do with our dynamics, and everything to do with the fact that we care for your mental health. I think it’d be great if you talk to Hannibal for a few sessions, just… get it out of the way so that you can return to work with a clearer perspective.”

 _Of course, you think Hannibal is all that, he_ _’s your husband,_ Will thought sourly, though he didn’t give any outward sign as to what he was thinking.

When it became obvious Will would not yield, Jack let out a heavy sigh. “Will, I asked you to get close to Hobbs, and now I need to know you didn’t get too close. How many nights did you spend dreaming of what happened with Hobbs?”

Will was about to snap back that he hadn’t experienced such nightmares until he remembered Beverly had told Jack as much when he’d visited Will in the hospital. He snapped his mouth shut and glowered at Jack’s tie. “Therapy doesn’t work on me.”

“Because you won’t let it,” Jack said.

“Because I know all the tricks,” Will gritted out.

“Then un-learn it.”

Will rolled his eyes. It was no use talking to Jack when he was like this. The alpha was so sure that Will’s empathy could be turned on and off like a switch. If he had that kind of power, he wouldn’t be in this mess at all.

Alana stepped in again, her placating tone smoothing Will’s ruffled feathers. “Why not have a conversation with Hannibal? He was there. He knew what you went through.”

Sensing that he was losing the battle, Will growled and threw his things inside his satchel to make a hasty retreat, Jack’s bellowing voice following him along the empty corridor.

“Come on, Will. I need my beauty sleep!”

“Jack said that?” Beverly asked during lunch a few hours later.

Today’s lunch was a simpler affair, Beverly meeting him at his office with a concerned frown and Subway sandwiches for both of them. He’d texted her earlier to let her know he wasn’t up for lunch today, but of course, she’d gleaned the distress behind his message. Sometimes he hated the fact that she could see through these moods of his, but he was grateful that she’d at least had the forethought to ply him with food before they got to the heart of the matter.

“He did. I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Will took a large bite out of the cookie that came with his meal, relishing the sugar rush.

Beverly sighed. “I guess the Board’s coming down hard on him over the Shrike case. As they should since he wasn’t supposed to put you in that position, anyway.”

He made a non-committal noise around his cookie, finishing the rest of it and eyeing Beverly’s portion when he was done with his.

She smirked when she saw the glance he gave her and pushed her cookie towards him. “So they’re not going to let you back as a consultant unless you agree on a psych eval, huh?”

Will sighed, delaying his next bite to respond. “I guess. Jack knows I’m going to give in. It doesn’t matter to him I’m going to lose sleep over the thought of meeting Dr. Lecter again.”

“Really? You two seemed to get along, though.”

“That was before I found out he’s going to be officially digging around my head.” What would Hannibal do, he wondered, now that he had the FBI’s sanction to do so? Would he advise Jack to pull Will back from active duty if he suspected that Will’s darkness went far beyond his ability to empathize with the killers he sought?

“Hmm. Well, for what it’s worth, I think he’d be better than Alana. No offense to her, of course, but considering your history with her…”

Will made a face as he bit into his second cookie. “Yeah, thanks for the reminder. I don’t think I’d be comfortable around him after this, is all. I don’t like him enough to let him wade around my brain.”

Beverly raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

Will frowned at the challenge in her stare. “What? I don’t.”

“Will, I’ve seen the way you look at him.”

It was Will’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “What?”

Beverly rolled her eyes. “God, we’re going to do this now, are we? Tell me how many times you’ve met with him in Minnesota.”

He had to give that some thought. “Uh… five times I guess?”

“So out of those five times, I was only there for two occasions. Since I have two fully functioning eyes, I could _see_ the way you two look at each other, come on now.”

Will frowned. “Not trying to be obtuse here or anything, but what’s that supposed to mean?”

Beverly scoffed, irritated. “Okay, so I only say this because I know how oblivious you can be sometimes when an alpha tries to make their intentions towards you clear.” She gestured to herself. “Case in point. But really? You didn’t notice the way his eyes were practically devouring you during lunch? He looks like he could’ve eaten _you_ up! The only reason he didn’t jump on you was because I was there.”

Will blushed at the implication, though it was odd that he didn’t find himself displeased at the notion that Hannibal might be interested in him that way. “Okay, hold on, but he’s married!”

At that, Beverly froze and gave him a confused stare. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah, in case you didn’t notice his wedding band?”

Beverly frowned, looking stumped. “That can’t be right.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s married to Alana.”

He was surprised when Beverly let out a full-throated laugh, only stopping to give him an amused smile. “Okay, now _I_ _’m_ pretty sure you’re messing with me. Trust me, Will, whoever he’s married to, it’s not to Alana Bloom.”

It was Will’s turn to look surprised, and he blinked at her for several seconds. “But she married some wealthy alpha, didn’t she? And she mentioned him a couple of times—”

Beverly laughed again, shaking her head. “Yeah, because Hannibal is her mentor! The wealthy alpha she married is Margot Verger, AKA the only living alpha heir to the meat-packing dynasty that is the Vergers? I know you don’t keep up with the local gossip, but really? You didn’t even know who Alana’s married to?” Off his confused look, she smiled. “Oh wait, of course I believe that you never were one to pry into people’s personal lives, are you? I know you don’t care sometimes, but this? This is just hilarious.”

Will scowled, his face burning with embarrassment at his misconceptions. Beverly wouldn’t lie about this, especially when it could be easily disproved with a Google search. “Okay, fine, so I was wrong. But he’s still married! He wouldn’t look at me that way if he’s married.”

Beverly shrugged. “Okay, fine. I could be wrong. Maybe that’s the way he looks at a science experiment or something, he did seem weirdly into it when we invited him for the autopsy that one time. But so what if he does look at you like that? I wouldn’t blame him, you’re a total snack.”

Embarrassment warred with pleasure at the statement, his blush spreading over his face. “ _Bev._ ”

“What! You are.” She grinned. “Speaking of, you want me to come over tonight?”

Will huffed at the segue, though he didn’t say no to Beverly’s question.

Much to his own consternation, he relented to the Board’s request and met with Hannibal a few days later at the alpha’s practice.

The imposing building gave way to a wide room when Hannibal admitted him inside, the space made even wider by the light streaming into the office through the tall windows that overlooked the streets. Will didn’t expect to be amazed by the pristine office, but the sight of a mezzanine lined with books was enough to make him climb the stairs in wordless wonder. It wasn’t until he’d paced around the entire perimeter that he realized he’s ignored Hannibal for the last few minutes. He winced when he realized he had also been trailing his hands across some of the titles he’d perused. Leaving his scent on them.

God. Beverly’s words a few days ago must have left more of an impression on him for him to behave this way.

Half-ashamed and half-embarrassed, he came down to see Hannibal giving him a small smile, the alpha’s eyes sparkling with amusement at Will’s evasive gaze.

“Did you find anything to your liking?” Hannibal asked, the alpha standing still beside his desk as Will made another loop, this time on the ground floor.

Will gave a listless shrug, avoiding the alpha’s eyes as he took in the furniture and odd knick-knacks decorating the office. An antique drawer, more bookshelves and a small reading corner, several paintings and statues, and weirdly enough, an abundance of chairs scattered around several corners of the office. Hannibal seemed the type to entertain several guests, but to do so here didn’t fit into his image into the Hannibal Lecter he knew.

Will paused in his foraging, biting the inside of his cheek. Come to think of it, he didn’t really know all that much about the doctor, especially since he’d been so very wrong in his assumption that Hannibal was married to Alana.

“Will?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Will whirled around to face Hannibal. The alpha was still leaning against his desk as he watched Will’s progression around the room. “Sorry,” Will said, clearing his throat. “Got distracted by my thoughts.”

Hannibal smiled. “That’s why you’re here. To share those thoughts with me if you see fit to do so.”

Will snorted. “More like I’m being forced to do that, but sure, why not go with that.”

Hannibal lifted his shoulders in his version of a shrug. “Of course, this needn’t be therapy. We could have conversations instead.”

That gave Will some pause. “Really? And those conversations won’t make it back to Jack Crawford or the FBI? I find that hard to believe.”

Another of those minute shrugs. “I would only supply Jack with the information he required for you to be cleared to consult again. Patient-doctor confidentiality still applies when we’re inside these four walls.”

Raising his eyebrows, Will chanced a glance towards Hannibal. “So… it’s still a therapy session.”

Hannibal stared right back at him. “I’m not sure therapy works on you. Not in the traditional sense. What you need instead is a way out of dark places when Jack sends you there.”

Still unsure, Will finished his loop around the room and made his way to the chairs in the middle of the room. He gave Hannibal a pointed look before he sat down and leaned back in a chair, staring at the empty chair across from him. A silent truce.

Hannibal unbuttoned his suit with a small smile and sat down in the opposite chair. Will noted with some interest that the suit was not as understated as the ones Hannibal had donned when they’d first met. Even in Minnesota, Hannibal had dressed down in neutral and earthy colors. Now, as the two of them sat opposite each other in Hannibal’s office in downtown Baltimore, the alpha finally looked as if he was in his element.

It made him smile to think he was observing the alpha in his natural habitat.

“Would you like to share on what you find so amusing, Will?”

Will grinned, unashamed at being caught. “Thinking about how you tried to blend in while you’re within the FBI walls by dressing down.”

Hannibal looked down at what he was wearing and smiled when he turned to meet Will’s gaze. “I suppose I did.”

As if that wasn’t a calculated move. “You wanted to give a different impression when we first met. Same thing when we were in Minnesota. Now that I’m here on the FBI’s dime, you don’t care anymore, do you? You’d gone back to the way you dressed previously, peacocking your way through Baltimore.” That fitted in with his impression of the alpha as a refined man, at least.

Hannibal’s smile was wide, the corner of his eyes creasing with it. “Perception is a tool that’s pointed on both ends. I wonder what your sharp mind sees when you face the killers you’re profiling.”

Will snorted. So that’s how he wanted to play this charade of theirs. “I told Jack before that I can empathize with anyone, not just the killers. It’s why I try to minimize eye contact or spending more time than is necessary for others.”

“It must be exhausting to have such interactions forced on you then.”

“Yes, so excuse me if I’m not on my best behavior during these ‘conversations’ of ours.”

“I welcome your candid opinions and behavior. Never fear to speak the truth when you’re with me. That is how we can make progress.”

“You’re not the first psychiatrist to tell me that. They gave up on me once I started telling them the truth, however.”

Crossing his legs, Hannibal tilted his head in a show of curiosity. “What version of truth did you give them? That doing bad things to bad people makes us feel good?”

Will gave him a wry smile. “Is that what I think, or is that what you think I think? I don’t know if I want to answer a leading question.”

“I think you’re holding back on your thoughts because you are wary of their reception. Society places a great value on their perception of morality, so much so that there is no place for us to talk about the things that fall between the black and white spaces. So much nuance is lost in between. You have been conditioned all your life to think that killing people is an ugly, despicable act.”

Will’s lips twitched into a smile of their own volition. “I wouldn’t call it beautiful.”

“Could it not be?”

Will shook his head. “Not with Hobbs. What he did to his family wasn’t beautiful.”

Hannibal conceded the point with a nod. He said nothing more, however, his features carefully blank to reveal nothing of what he was thinking to Will. He studied Will with that familiar intensity of it.

The silence lengthened until Will felt the weight of it pressing down on his chest. That was the only reason he blurted out what he said next. “I wish I’d killed Hobbs in that moment.”

For a long moment, Hannibal didn’t react. He was still leaning back in his chair, his legs crossed, his gaze curious. But beyond that, he gave no outward reaction to Will’s confession.

Will was beginning to realize that that, too, was its own tell in a way.

Hannibal eventually asked, “If given the chance, would you have pulled the trigger?”

Will thought back to Louise lying in a pool of her blood and the wide-eyed fear on Abigail’s face as Garrett Jacob Hobbs took their lives with his hand. Would he? He might have, had he been thinking straight that day. He might have pulled the trigger just as he had during his practice rounds. He might have emptied the entire magazine into Hobbs.

Will met Hannibal’s gaze and gave him a small smile. “I guess we’ll never know.”

The words hung suspended between them, Hannibal’s gaze never wavering from his. Despite the intensity of it, Will couldn’t tear himself away. Something compelled him to keep his silence this time. Daring the doctor to look away first in a show of disgust.

Except it never came.

Will blinked when the timer he had set vibrated through his pocket. Without realizing it, their hour was up. Granted, he’d used maybe half of it perusing the books lining Hannibal’s shelves.

Sensing Will’s momentary distraction, Hannibal smiled. “Is it time for you to leave?”

Flushing at the fact that Hannibal had caught onto his trick, Will forced a smile and made a show of taking out his phone and turning the alarm off. “I did tell Jack I don’t do well with therapy.”

Instead of being offended that Will had set an alarm to alert him at the end of the session, Hannibal’s smile widened. He rose from his seat to retrieve an envelope from his desk, handing it to Will in the next moment. “I hope you won’t mind seeing me again if you feel like continuing our conversations, then.”

Will’s brow furrowed. The blank envelope gave him no clue as to what was inside. “What’s this?”

“Your psychological evaluation. Congratulations, you’re totally functional and more or less sane.”

Will huffed a laugh, unbidden. “Did you just rubber stamp me?” More amusing still that Hannibal had already prepared the letter beforehand. So sure of Will’s “sanity.”

Hannibal grinned. “Jack Crawford may lay his weary head to rest knowing he didn’t break you, and our conversation can proceed unobstructed by paperwork.”

Will paused and studied the alpha. “Is that… allowed?”

“I suppose it’s a more unorthodox approach.” Hannibal gave him another wide smile. “I thought it fitting for an unorthodox omega.”

The alpha was regarding him with a fond smile that made Will’s thoughts halt in their tracks. His face flushed when he realized this was what Beverly meant when she said that Hannibal looked at him in a certain way. The way his face and belly warmed at the sight alarmed him. He knew there was something wrong with him when he felt like reciprocating that smile with a pleased smile of his own.

Will shot out of his seat so quickly that Hannibal gave him a surprised look. Instead of acknowledging the awkward moment and his knee-jerk reaction, he hurried to the coat rack to retrieve his coat and put it on, wincing when his left shoulder throbbed in protest. Right. Still got to take care of his shoulder.

When he turned to look at Hannibal again, the fond smile had been replaced with another curious tilt of his head.

“I apologize if I said something wrong,” Hannibal said, giving the appearance of a man chastened.

Will shook his head and gave a forced laugh. “No. I should get back to my dogs is all. Uh, thank you for the rubber stamp.” Before he could rethink them, he forced the next words out. “I’ll see you next week.”

Hannibal’s smile was the last thing Will saw before he exited the room in a hurry to get away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will: Oh shit, he’s cute *exit, stage left*


End file.
